Young vigilantes find their coldly calculated murder plot unravelling at the seams in this compact thriller set in a remote corner of Australian bushland. A strong cast of up-and-comers helps first-time writer-director Michael Henry maintain tension as he carefully teases out the plot twists to make the most of a single location and a deceptively simple concept.
Armed with nothing but a bottle of sleeping pills and a devouring hunger for revenge, five young people in balaclavas invade the isolated outback home of a middle-aged music teacher (Damian de Montemas). He is hogtied and force-fed the sedatives but kept as much in the dark as we are as to his would-be killers’ motive. The intruders drive off, leaving him for dead beside a suicide note on his laptop. Soon they are back – a cell phone’s been left behind. They find their quarry groggy but alive, and the recriminations begin.
As fault lines appear in otherwise rock-solid relationships, we learn more about these hot-headed avengers and what exactly this man has done to earn their murderous ire. The truth inches out, giving the two female leads, Sophie Lowe (Beautiful Kate) and Kestie Morassi, scope to play a range of emotional tilts. Both rise to the task. - Megan Lehmann, Associated Press