WOLFRAM
Rating: M (Mature themes, violence and coarse language)
Duration: 102 mins
Director: Warwick Thornton
Cast: Deborah Mailman, Eloise Hart, Hazel May Jackson, Pedrea Jackson, Thomas M. Wright, Erroll Shand
Genre: Adventure, drama, western
Opens: APR 30
Warwick Thornton, visionary writer, director and director of photography of the lauded Samson & Delilah, returns to the Central Desert with Wolfram, his follow up to his acclaimed Sweet Country. Set in 1930s Australia, the colonial frontier. Two swaggering outlaws roll into a mining town and unleash a wave of cruelty, leading three kids to break free from their white ‘masters’ and set off across the ‘sweet country’ of central Australia in search of a safe home. Beautifully filmed, troubling and powerful, Warwick’s work is essential viewing.
THE SHEEP DETECTIVES
Rating: PG (Mild themes, threat, violence and coarse language)
Duration: 109 mins
Director: Kyle Balda
Cast: Hugh Jackman, Emma Thompson, Nicholas Braun, Nicholas Galitzine, Molly Gordon, Hong Chau
Genre: Action, animation, comedy
Opens: MAY 07
Hugh Jackman as a shepherd tending to his flock! In this witty, new breed of mystery, George reads detective novels to his beloved sheep every night, assuming they can’t possibly understand. But when a mysterious incident disrupts life on the farm, the sheep realise they must become the detectives. As they follow the clues and investigate human suspects, they prove that even sheep can be brilliant crime-solvers. This looks like so much fun – the trailer oozes charm, think Aardman type quirky humour – check out the trailer, and I’m sure you’ll be hooked.
H IS FOR HAWK
Rating: CTC
Duration: 120 mins
Director: Philippa Lowthorpe
Cast: Claire Foy, Brendan Gleeson, Angus Cooper, Sam Spruell
Genre: Drama
Opens: MAY 28
I watched this trailer and immediately thought of Kes, a book I loved when I studied in high school, for which there was also a film. Now the wonderful Claire Foy (the best of the ‘Queens’ in The Crown) plays a heartfelt Helen. When her beloved father passes away, she is overtaken by grief and loses herself in memories of their time birding and exploring the natural world together. She becomes obsessed with the idea of training her own goshawk, and so she brings the fearsome bird Mabel home to Cambridge with her. Ready to embark on the arduous process of trying to train the wildest of animals, Helen fills the freezer with hawk food and turns off her phone. But as she labours to teach Mabel how to hunt and fly free on her own, Helen uncovers how neglected her own emotions and life have become.
H is for Hawk is a soaring journey of the connection between people and nature, and how it might be possible to reconcile loss through love.
BIRTHRIGHT
Rating: MA15+ (Strong coarse language)
Duration: 93 mins
Director: Zoe Pepper
Cast: Maria Angelico, Travis Jeffery, Michael Hurst, Linda Cropper
Genre: Comedy, thriller
Opens: May 21
A twisted Australian Family drama for the ages – when is it time for the kids to finally grow up and leave home? Evicted and jobless, Cory and his pregnant wife are forced to stay with his parents. As the younger couple’s stay extends the parents’ become worried that their disappointing son will never leave the house. Desperate to prove himself, the edges of Cory’s reality slip away and he finds an unexpected path to success that detonates the family. This looks quirky, stark, wicked… Can’t wait.
