This has not been the greatest year for the niche genre of “dark crime dramas set in the Australian Outback”. With both David Michôd’s The Rover, a disappointingly empty film that lacked both character development and substantial storytelling and Ivan Sen’s Mystery Road, it might be worth taking a break from vacationing down under… cinematically at least.
It may be unfair to compare Sen’s new film against The Rover because Mystery Road actually had discernible characters and a plot. The plot focuses on Detective Jay Swan (Aaron Pedersen), an Aboriginal police officer in a small town in the Outback. Swan is brought back to work after an Aboriginal teenage girl was found with her throat slashed on the side of the highway. Thinking it was a prostitution gig gone bad, Swan proposes a sting operation to uncover the shady business. The elderly Sergeant (Tony Barry) argues that there are not enough officers to spare and denies his request. While the rest of the police force is willing to write the event off as a simple tragedy, Swan does not let the girl’s death go unavenged and independently sets off to solve her murder.
Met with resistance from other weathered police officers such as the sly Johnno (Hugo Weaving) and his partner Robbo (Robert Mammone), as well as the town’s downtrodden and untrusting working class, Swan continues to probe the criminal underground while facing opposition from both sides of the racial aisle. His investigation takes a personal turn however when Swan discovers that his estranged daughter (Tricia Whitton) is connected to the murdered girl, and it soon becomes a race against time to reveal the killer before his daughter falls victim to a similar fate.
While the slow-burn structure can be very captivating, it’s not very effective when the delivery is flat. Sen, who wrote, directed, shot, edited, and scored the film (a feat in and of itself), might have been able to throw in a bit more style and intrigue had he focused solely on his first two roles. This is especially true in regards to its racially charged subtext which felt skimmed over instead of critically analyzed. But Sen is capable of capturing the sparseness of the dried-up desert, from the film’s wide shots to the frenetic, gun-blazing climax. The film’s world, whether compellingly or not, fits squarely within the barren realm of neo-noir.
Pedersen does bring a certain conflicted tenderness to his lead role, showcasing the struggles he faces as he attempts to juggle culture, family, and criminal justice. He also exhibits a wry sensibility as the smooth-talking Johnno, leaving the audience constantly guessing as to where his loyalties stands. The acting is competent and in no way bad, but in no way memorable.
If you are craving a straightforward mystery/western, or a serving of modern Australian cinema, then Mystery Road is the way to go. But for those with a more adventurous drive, it may be worth keeping an eye out for an alternative bypass.
Rating: 6/10