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Snowtown

Justin Kurzel's disturbing true crime story features astonishing performances from Daniel Henshall and Lucas Pittaway.

Released in cinemas 18th November 2011.

Based on true events, this Australian crime drama will inevitably draw comparisons with Animal Kingdom, but it's a very different beast. While David Michôd's blistering, thrilling film was a gripping examination of a criminal matriarch, Snowtown is actually more Martha Marcy May Marlene.

A disorientating re-enactment of a serial killer's control over a worn-down community, Justin Kurzel's film is remarkable in its insidious tone. Newcomer Lucas Pittaway was plucked off the street to play Jamie, a 16-year-old living in a deprived suburb in Adelaide with his two younger brothers. His vulnerable mother Elizabeth (astonishing non-professional Louise Harris) is chronically sick, and trying to hold the family unit together with a succession of father figures. When the children are taken advantage of (masterful in its sensitive but disturbing treatment), the resulting ramshackle "committee" sees a new face in its midst.

Slowly, John Bunting (Daniel Henshall) becomes a charismatic local hero, whipping the neighbours into righteous frenzy. A new father figure to the boys, Bunting is actually a sadistic serial killer with a tightknit crowd of complicit accomplices, and Kurzel's film shows how easy Jamie fell under Bunting's manipulative spell.

Intensely powerful and uncompromising, it paints a harsh picture of a neglected and insular community. Bunting's hate-filled rhetoric is fascinating, but there's something twisted about some of Kurzel's visual choices. While this is certainly no slasher/torture porn flick, the director lingers on the ugliness of Bunting's nature to a nauseating degree - there have been several walk-outs in screenings.

The pivotal moment for Jamie comes as he finally witnesses what Bunting is. It's one of the most disturbing kills seen on screen, showcasing Bunting's warped sense of justice. Like much of the film, it's lengthy, disgustingly realistic, and deeply uncomfortable to witness. Kurzel throws many unsettling moments into his film: the butchering of kangaroos, the feeding of a snake, and one shocking moment when Bunting shows how little empathy he feels for man's best friend.

The story's events bleed into each other in the most confusing way; characters come and go with little definition, and it's certainly unconventional as a thriller. The lack of structure doesn't always work to Kurzel's advantage, and the film peters out in what should be a powerful resolution to the awful "Bodies in Barrels" case. Instead, Snowtown should be viewed as a dark, grim character study with remarkable performances and painful detail.

Pittaway evokes a young Heath Ledger, and is heartbreaking as the frightened young man clinging on to some semblence of a mentor. His transformation throughout the film is astonishing, considering his complete lack of experience. However, it's Henshall who makes Snowtown the dreadful powerhouse it is. As Bunting, he's a devil in the guise of a avuncular teddy bear, which makes his spiteful manipulation all the more terrifying. It's a perfectly controlled performance, dripping with monstrous resentment and arrogance under a facade of morality.

Snowtown is hard work, and somewhat bleak in portraying a community so ravaged by apathy. It's an assured debut for Kurzel, who shoots in a natural, hand-held style with flashes of artistic beauty.

Rating: 8/10