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Tag: Andrew Commis

QuickView: The Daughter (2015)

The Daughter poster

“Everyone’s got a story like this… it’s as old as the hills.”

Walter

Densely packed with interrelated characters tying together two families who harbour a number of secrets, The Daughter explores whether some secrets are best left concealed rather than forced destructively into the open. Norwegian playwright Henrik Ibsen’s The Wild Duck provides the relationships and the central theme (as well as Hedvig’s name, distractingly conspicuous in the modern Australian setting). A remote logging town in its death throes provides a precarious backdrop to intense drama and an illustrious Australian ensemble cast imbues even supporting roles with depth. Unfortunately The Daughter eventually veers from bubbling tension into overwrought melodrama, resulting in a less satisfying final act once secrets are revealed than the careful build-up which led there.

6/10

QuickView: Babyteeth (2019)

“This is the worst possible parenting I can imagine.”

Anna

An idiosyncratic Australian indie, Babyteeth takes a familiar subgenre with a seriously ill teenage child, but treats the traditional formula with almost perverse contempt. Milla begins the film by bringing home a 23-year-old drug addict, leaving her parents with a dilemma between protecting and supporting their daughter. All four central characters are deeply flawed but we empathise with each of them (sometimes alternatingly) as they are trying desperately hard not to hurt one another. Ben Mendelsohn and Essie Davis are perfectly paired as parents faltering under the weight of their child’s illness, though it is Eliza Scanlen’s powerful performance as the chaotic Milla that carries the film. In a story filled with poor decisions, hers are ultimately the most understandable as — like any teen — she prioritises living over surviving. Shannon Murphy has delivered one of the most arresting directorial debuts in recent years, rich with emotion without becoming cloying, whilst the handheld camerawork provides an intimate perspective without becoming voyeuristic.

8/10

"A film is a petrified fountain of thought."

(CC) BY-NC 2003-2023 Priyan Meewella

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