One of the landscapes that produce a hypnotic effect on me are those that appear in films made in Australia. There are several horror stories that take advantage of these exotic landscapes to narrate splendid cinematic nightmares. But this is not a film of the horror genre. It is a crime drama, another genre well suited to plot development in these remote Australian towns.
Australian filmmaker Robert Conolly surprises me by directing with a steady hand a thriller that hooked me from the first scene to its heartbreaking and emotional ending. Among his best known films are Balibo, Three Dollars and The Bank, but he has also worked for television and produced other films. Conolly is also a book author and screenwriter. I believe The Dry is his strongest work to date and was a big hit in Australia last year.
Conolly is responsible for writing the screenplay, adapting the novel by writer Jane Harper, a well-known Australian author with several crime novels to her credit. The dry novel was her debut book, in 2016 and was a huge success for her, selling over a million copies. She is good at writing the crime genre and is the author of other novels, The Force of Nature and The Lost Man. She won several awards for the novel The Dry and the protagonist Aaron Falk reappears in The Force of Nature. This is the first film adaptation of one of his novels, but I see possibilities for another of his works to be adapted.
I haven't read the novel, so I can't compare whether this is a faithful adaptation to the work or if the filmmaker has taken creative liberties by making changes to the story.
If you like thrillers in which a cop must solve a mysterious crime, you will love The Dry. The story is intriguing, the protagonist has a past that haunts him and there are several twists in the tale that keep us on edge to decipher the mystery. In addition, those landscapes of a remote Australian village, give more strength to the drama that we are told with the photography of Stefan Duscio.
What is the plot of the film?
Federal agent Aaron Falk returns to his hometown to attend the funeral of his best friend Luke Hadler and his family. Apparently, Luke went crazy and killed his wife and one of his young children, then went to a secluded spot in the area and committed suicide. Luke's parents don't believe their son was capable of this and ask Aaron to investigate. The officer turns to the town's policeman for help in the investigation. But Aaron is not welcome in that place, 20 years ago, when he was a teenager, he was one of the suspects, along with Luke, in the death of Ellie Deacon, a girl Aaron was in love with and who appeared drowned in the lake the day they met in that place. Is Luke's alleged suicide related to that event in the past? Did Luke kill his family and also Ellie Deacon? What torments Aaron so much? Did it have something to do with what happened 20 years ago? Aaron will be on a dual mission, uncovering the truth about Luke and making peace with his past.
You haven't gone to see the movie yet? With this synopsis I've told you, you should start looking for it now. Are you going to tell me the plot isn't interesting? For lovers of crime thrillers with a mystery to solve, this movie is a real feast.
There are two mysteries in the story. The first is set in the present day. It concerns the murder of Luke's wife and child, in which only the baby, only a few months old, survived. Afterwards, Luke appears to have committed suicide.
The second mystery, shown through flashbacks, is what happened 20 years ago, when Aaron and Luke were teenagers. Luke was a difficult child and asked Aaron to lie about something. Aaron met Elli at the lake, but we don't know exactly what happened. Did she go to the lake? Did Aaron have something to do with her death? Or was it Luke? Is this related to Luke's suicide?
There are numerous questions we will be asking ourselves. The family of the young woman who died 20 years ago is still in town, it could have been them as an act of revenge. Ellie's father and brother will behave in a hostile manner upon seeing Aaron. To them, the two boys were to blame for Ellie's death.
Aaron doubts everything, something doesn't seem right about Luke's family's crime. He wants to believe that Like didn't go crazy, but memories of the past and what Luke asked him to do after Ellie's death haunt him.
The federal agent stays investigating because he wants to find answers from the past. It is unbearable to live with the feeling of guilt, even though he was not Ellie's killer. That day he invited her to meet him at the lake and he feels responsible for the tragedy. Was it an accident or did someone else kill her?
At the end we will have answers to all the questions, don't worry nothing is left open. The film has a closed and painful ending. Not only will the mystery of Luke's case be solved, but the agent will finally get answers about Ellie Deacon. But what an emotional ending, where anger and tears take effect on the viewer.
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A powerful thriller elegantly directed, in the style of the great works of the genre. I liked the main character so much that I will look for the novels, I want to read the second story of this character, before someone makes the film adaptation.
There are similar stories, but Conelly gives the film his own personality. I think the locations chosen for the filming have a big influence. Impossible not to stop admiring those arid Australian landscapes, in a rural town where its inhabitants have many secrets and a past marked by tragedy.
The narration of the present events takes place in the middle of a long drought, in which several months have passed without rain, affecting the agricultural economy of the town. This produces economic problems in most of the inhabitants. Money is what Aaron will investigate to get to the bottom of the mysterious matter.
Eric Bana plays Aaron, the federal agent investigating Luke's crime, as he recalls the events of the past. Bana had his moment of glory in Hollywood, he was even the Hulk in the 2003 version. One of the movies I remember most is Munich. We also saw him alongside Brad Pitt in Troy. He has continued to work, in hits like Hannah, Deadfall and recently the miniseries Dirty Johnny. But he doesn't make as many films as he used to, for me it was a pleasant surprise to see him star in this film, which has not been promoted on this side of the world. The movie is made for him to shine, with an excellent performance. I hope that if they make the second novel of the character, it will be Eric Bana who will play him again.
Irish actress Genevieve O'Reilly plays Gretchen, Luke's former girlfriend when he was a teenager, but who now seems to be attracted to Aaron. She is the protagonist's romantic interest, but she keeps a little secret that Aaron will discover.
Young actors Joe Klocek and Sam Corlett play the teenage versions of Aaron and Luke. They star in flashbacks to events that took place 20 years ago. Actor Keir O'Donnell will play local policeman Greg Raco, who is in charge of the investigation. He is a well-known actor in Australia for his long career in film and television.
The beautiful BeBe Bettencourt plays Ellie Deacon, the young woman who drowned in the lake 20 years ago and during all this time, that mystery haunts our protagonist. She is an unknown actress for me, but I really liked her presence in front of the cameras. Maybe we are in front of a future star. Only time will tell.
The Dry is an excellent thriller that I came across by chance. I loved the movie, maybe because I like this genre a lot. The story is good, the mystery of the case to be solved is maintained until the last moment, with several suspects and the respective twists in the plot that manage to mislead us, until finally the mystery is unveiled. The ending is beautiful and emotional. I can't ask for more from this film with impeccable direction.
I recommend it.
*My Ranking:*
**3.8/5**
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