Rowan Woods Australia, 1998, 86 mins.
Producers: Robert Connolly, John Maynard Brett returns home after a year in prison with three things on his mind: his girl, his stash, and his brothers. But Michelle is too high-strung, the drugs are long gone, and the brothers are dangerously close to letting newcomers break up "the Boys." Even his flighty mother has taken a lover. Over the course of his first day back, Brett reclaims his family with icy malevolence. In this electrifying adaptation of an acclaimed, controversial play, director Rowan Woods uses his camera as if it were a police station's one-way mirror: faces approach the lens transfixed with the fear of their own transgressions and the rage of failure. This hard-edged family drama is pow-ered by riveting performances, jarring pacing, an intricate narrative structure, and a threatening claustrophobia that perfectly matches Brett's corrosive state of mind. - Scott Meserve |