Reviewed by Jo Wood
Stars Diana Glenn, Maeve Dermody, Andy Rodoreda,
Ben Oxenbould, Fiona Press
Written by David Nerlich & Andrew Traucki
Produced by Paul Cowan & Michael Robertson
Certification UK 15 | Australia MA
Runtime 90 minutes
Directed by David Nerlich & Andrew Traucki
I really had no idea what to expect from this movie, and with its slow start, and tear-your-eyes out predictable acting of Ben Oxenbould I almost wish I hadn’t come. But I was glad I stayed, as in true low-budget Aussie style, with canny use of location, music, suspense, and the superb find of actress Maeve Dermody, I was sufficiently scared and saddened, and left with something of a pressure headache — everything one would want from watching a slow building psychological thriller.
Think Jaws, replacing American shark with 20 foot Aussie croc, and swap a boat for a tree. Set in Australia's Northern Territory (but filmed just outside of Sydney), a group comprising two sisters and a boyfriend set off fishing down one of the many rivers which swell in wet season. The fact my best friend and I did something not entirely dissimilar in our yesteryears of travelling made the movie that much more terrifying, as the fact remains that there is nothing more chilling in life than watching a croc rise to the surface of swamp water.
Directors David Nerlich and Andrew Traucki were dead-set that they wanted the croc to look and behave as real as possible. And what better way to do that than turning their backs on CGI and only using footage gained after hours of backbreaking (and literal camera breaking) research and filming of real life crocs. Clever use of lighting and music builds suspense throughout the film, as the three are stranded without their guide in a tree, miles down river, with a reptilian sure to have made even Dundee wince, stalking them. Dermondy plays younger sister Lee, and is breathtaking in her adolescent role of emotional roller-coasting and bravery. Elder sister Grace is played, also marvellously, by Diana Glenn, and these two actresses manage to carry the viewer to hell and back in a psychological battle of will and cunning between human and croc. There’s no doubt I was immersed in these characters by the end of the film, and I think this will become cult psychological thriller watching. A real hit for the Australian Film Council.