Think about being devious sufficient to deceive candy, candy Eric Bana.
One of many many points with Hollywood right this moment is the choice by studios to focus the majority of their efforts on hopeful blockbusters with bloated budgets. The massive motion pictures aren’t themselves the issue, however as an alternative it’s the shortage of assets leftover to go in direction of low to mid-range movies. There’s rather a lot to be stated on the topic, however we’ll save that for an additional time and as an alternative get to the purpose — right this moment’s low/mid-budget thrillers come nearly completely from exterior of Hollywood. And sometimes, if not sometimes, they’re from exterior the U.S. all collectively. 2021’s The Dry match the invoice precisely as a sensible, atmospheric slice of Australian noir delivering a compelling and affecting thriller, and the movie discovered a deserved success with each audiences and critics. Fortunately for these of us who love this sort of factor, Drive of Nature (unofficially subtitled The Dry 2) as soon as once more brings some intelligently thrilling items from down below.
5 ladies, all coworkers, head out on a rural hike as a part of a company retreat, however solely 4 of them return. Alice (Anna Torv) has gone lacking, and the opposite ladies are lower than forthcoming in relation to the times and hours main as much as Alice’s disappearance. Every has her personal secrets and techniques and her personal lies, and with the clock ticking and tough climate heading their method, the possibilities of discovering the lacking girl shortly plummet. Native police and search events are on the hunt, however solely Federal police officer Aaron Falk (Eric Bana) has one more reason for locating her alive — she’s his informant, he was urgent her exhausting for proof towards her bosses, and he’s nonetheless haunted by his personal mom’s disappearance in these woods when he was only a baby. Oh, and there’s additionally a serial killer’s cabin close by?
Drive of Nature, as soon as once more based mostly on a novel by Jane Harper, is a follow-up to The Dry, however you’d be hard-pressed to name it a direct sequel. It’s as an alternative extra according to different thriller franchises like Rian Johnson’s Knives Out movies or Kenneth Branagh’s Agatha Christie options. Falk is the one returning character, and there are not any connections to the previous story, however we do get thematic throughlines with a lead protagonist whose current day conflicts appear to at all times dovetail with tragedies and traumas from his previous. The self-esteem works fantastically in The Dry, additionally directed by Robert Connelly, and whereas it doesn’t come collectively practically as effectively right here, there’s nonetheless loads to get pleasure from because the thriller unfolds with Bana’s haunted investigator peeling again the layers.
As with these aforementioned mysteries, Falk is the centerpiece of an ensemble, and whereas your entire forged does good work right here, it’s Bana who holds our consideration and curiosity the strongest. The actor might be greatest identified for taking part in robust guys (Chopper, 2000; Black Hawk Down, 2001; Troy, 2004), however he’s fairly good at enjoying extra soulful, emotionally fraught characters too. Like The Dry, this movie cuts away from the current to supply glimpses into Falk’s previous as a method of explaining the compassionate and troubled man he’s right this moment. Previous pains change into seen on Bana’s face whereas loss, guilt, and grief puddle in his eyes. His feelings change into are personal, and that goes a great distance in direction of our personal want for a cheerful decision to the case at hand.
The script, written by Connelly, weaves Falk’s story into the nesting doll thriller earlier than him, and every new reveal solutions a query whereas leaving Falk and viewers with nonetheless extra. Drive of Nature does an excellent job with its 4 characters who exit the woods as every affords differing particulars, and when pressed or challenged, every reveals new truths. They breath lies like oxygen, lies to one another and sometimes themselves, lies that stem from private wants and grievances, lies that will or will not be related to Alice’s disappearance. It’s constructed effectively, and all 5 ladies (together with Deborra-Lee Furness, Robin McLeavy, Sisi Stringer, and Lucy Ansell) give robust performances, however neither of the intertwined threads manages to be extra than simply compelling sufficient.
Of the 2, it’s the flashbacks that land the weakest as Falk’s childhood brush with disappearance and demise lacks an emotional grip. The drama of the state of affairs is obvious — his mom goes lacking whereas out mountain climbing with younger Aaron and his father — nevertheless it simply can’t discover a really dramatic or suspenseful footing throughout to its underwhelming decision. The current day thriller fares higher, to the purpose that you simply want the movie had targeted on it completely, as the person deceptions discover intrigue and drama. Falk’s guilt over probably having pushed Alice too far and too near hazard turns into the beating coronary heart right here, and it affords the movie its solely actual emotional weight.
The place The Dry drops viewers right into a shiny and dusty outback, Drive of Nature finds its story throughout the lush greens of a dense forest, and it’s a panorama incessantly drenched in rain. It’s a one-eighty on the environmental entrance, however cinematographer Andrew Commis (who additionally shot Connelly’s 2022 drama, Blueback, which additionally stars Bana) ensures that we really feel the treacherous dampness throughout. The environment look as attractive as they do threatening, and that’s no small feat. Right here’s hoping Connelly and Bana reunite as soon as extra to adapt Harper’s third and reportedly closing Aaron Falk novel, Exiles, as it is going to be a pleasant change of tempo to see Falk fixing a thriller within the pleasantly fragrant environment of Australia’s wine nation.
Followers of The Dry ought to positively give Drive of Nature a watch. The narratives could not land as powerfully this time round, however Bana’s robust however damaged investigator stays a compelling ethical compass in a world fueled by deceit and deception.
Associated Matters: Eric Bana, The Dry
