Shabana Azeez and Mackenzie Fearnley are good as the husband and wife to be but this horror film feels indecisive and stretches too long
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Great horror movies and psychological thrillers come on like magic spells, pushing us into incantatory spaces where we kind of want to run for the hills while also knowing we won’t stop watching. Birdeater – a nightmarish Australian film about a buck’s party weekend in the bush that becomes a terrible cocktail of fighting, power plays, verbal grenades and druggy mayhem – exhibits full-on stylistic chutzpah, which I respect in some ways. But this production pushed me away much more than it pulled me in, ultimately leaving me aggrieved, withered and wondering what the point was.
You’re not supposed to enjoy such a rank experience, with its leering characters and thick air of toxic masculinity. But I’ve...
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Great horror movies and psychological thrillers come on like magic spells, pushing us into incantatory spaces where we kind of want to run for the hills while also knowing we won’t stop watching. Birdeater – a nightmarish Australian film about a buck’s party weekend in the bush that becomes a terrible cocktail of fighting, power plays, verbal grenades and druggy mayhem – exhibits full-on stylistic chutzpah, which I respect in some ways. But this production pushed me away much more than it pulled me in, ultimately leaving me aggrieved, withered and wondering what the point was.
You’re not supposed to enjoy such a rank experience, with its leering characters and thick air of toxic masculinity. But I’ve...
- 7/17/2024
- by Luke Buckmaster
- The Guardian - Film News
A blurred image of a Wake in Fright poster in an early shot in Birdeater cuts right to the heart of directors Jack Clark and Jim Weir’s feature debut, a hat tip to the style and tone of madness ahead. Like Ted Kotcheff’s 1971 classic thriller, Birdeater utilizes horror and thriller mechanics and tropes to deconstruct Australia’s masculine identity, one at odds with today’s sociopolitical landscape, through a contemporary lens. While it doesn’t push the genre elements far enough, its heady themes, sustained dread, and distinct visual language culminate in a tense psychodrama that poses compelling questions.
The signs that something’s deeply amiss in the relationship between engaged couple Irene (Shabana Azeez) and Louie (Mackenzie Fearnley) come fast and furious from the outset. Codependency issues and controlling behavior bubble just beneath the surface of their seemingly idyllic romance. Before filmmakers Clark, who wrote the script,...
The signs that something’s deeply amiss in the relationship between engaged couple Irene (Shabana Azeez) and Louie (Mackenzie Fearnley) come fast and furious from the outset. Codependency issues and controlling behavior bubble just beneath the surface of their seemingly idyllic romance. Before filmmakers Clark, who wrote the script,...
- 3/10/2024
- by Meagan Navarro
- bloody-disgusting.com
Watch the Trailer for Alice Maio Mackay's T-blockers: "In small-town Australia, a nightmare is brewing. Sophie is a young filmmaker obsessed with finding a thought-to-be long-lost film. Meanwhile, an earthquake unleashes ancient parasites in the area that thrive on hatred, causing outbursts of violence. Now Sophie and her friends, struggling with dating and their undesirable jobs, must also face off against an ancient evil that spreads like wildfire."
Starring: Lauren Last, Lewi Dawson, Joe Romeo, Chris Asimos, Joni Ayton-Kent, Stanley Browning, Lisa Fanto Director: Alice Maio Mackay Writers: Alice Maio Mackay, Benjamin Pahl Robinson Release Date: March 5, 2024 from Dark Star Pictures
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Birdeater: "A bride-to-be is invited to join her own fiancé’s bachelor party on a remote property in the Australian outback. But as the festivities spiral into beer-soaked chaos, uncomfortable details about their relationship are exposed, and the celebration soon becomes a feral nightmare."
Directed by: Jack Clark,...
Starring: Lauren Last, Lewi Dawson, Joe Romeo, Chris Asimos, Joni Ayton-Kent, Stanley Browning, Lisa Fanto Director: Alice Maio Mackay Writers: Alice Maio Mackay, Benjamin Pahl Robinson Release Date: March 5, 2024 from Dark Star Pictures
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Birdeater: "A bride-to-be is invited to join her own fiancé’s bachelor party on a remote property in the Australian outback. But as the festivities spiral into beer-soaked chaos, uncomfortable details about their relationship are exposed, and the celebration soon becomes a feral nightmare."
Directed by: Jack Clark,...
- 3/4/2024
- by Jonathan James
- DailyDead
"Should we really be doing that? Shouldn't you just stop now?" Blue Finch Films has revealed a fantastic festival teaser trailer for a new film titled Birdeater, an Australian indie horror flick marking the feature directorial debut of filmmakers Jack Clark & Jim Weir. It first premiered at the 2023 Sydney Film Festival last year and won the Audience Award for Australian Narrative Feature there. And it's playing at the 2024 SXSW Film Festival coming up this March. Birdeater is an unsettling horror thriller that "represents a visually striking and daring debut from this Australian duo." A bride-to-be is invited to her fiancé's bachelor party, but when uncomfortable details of their relationship are exposed, the night takes a feral turn. Vague yet compelling. The film stars Shabana Azeez, Mackenzie Fearnley, Ben Hunter, Jack Bannister, Clementine Anderson, Alfie Gledhill, Harley Wilson, and Caroline McQuade. Oh damn. Yeah this looks quite good, even from only 30 seconds of footage.
- 3/4/2024
- by Alex Billington
- firstshowing.net
One of the horror movies on our radar for SXSW 2024 this month is the Australian film Birdeater, which has received an official teaser trailer ahead of the festival this week.
Birdeater, which premiered at the Sydney Film Festival and earned the Audience Award for Australian Narrative Feature, is set to make its International Premiere at SXSW.
Directed by the filmmaking duo Jack Clark and Jim Weir, Birdeater is said to be a “horror thriller that represents a visually striking and daring debut from this Australian duo.”
“A bride-to-be is invited to join her own fiancé’s bachelor party on a remote property in the Australian outback. But as the festivities spiral into beer-soaked chaos, uncomfortable details about their relationship are exposed, and the celebration soon becomes a feral nightmare.”
Shabana Azeez, Mackenzie Fearnley, Ben Hunter, Jack Bannister, Clementine Anderson, Alfie Gledhill, Harley Wilson, and Caroline McQuade star in Birdeater.
Jack Clark wrote the screenplay.
Birdeater, which premiered at the Sydney Film Festival and earned the Audience Award for Australian Narrative Feature, is set to make its International Premiere at SXSW.
Directed by the filmmaking duo Jack Clark and Jim Weir, Birdeater is said to be a “horror thriller that represents a visually striking and daring debut from this Australian duo.”
“A bride-to-be is invited to join her own fiancé’s bachelor party on a remote property in the Australian outback. But as the festivities spiral into beer-soaked chaos, uncomfortable details about their relationship are exposed, and the celebration soon becomes a feral nightmare.”
Shabana Azeez, Mackenzie Fearnley, Ben Hunter, Jack Bannister, Clementine Anderson, Alfie Gledhill, Harley Wilson, and Caroline McQuade star in Birdeater.
Jack Clark wrote the screenplay.
- 3/4/2024
- by John Squires
- bloody-disgusting.com
The latest edition of the SXSW Film Festival kicks off later this week in Austin, Texas, unleashing an expansive slate of film programming an experiences- emphasis on expansive. For the horror fan, the fest offers so much more beyond the Midnighter programming section, and this SXSW 2024 preview guide should help.
The 2024 SXSW Film & TV Festival’s Opening Night TV Premiere is the highly anticipated Netflix series 3 Body Problem created, executive produced and written by Emmy Award winners David Benioff and D. B. Weiss and Emmy Award nominee Alexander Woo. The Midnighter category includes buzzy titles like Samara Weaving-starring Azrael and Sundance favorite It’s What’s Inside. The fest’s Headliner section comes packed with highly anticipated titles like Immaculate, Cuckoo, and Arcadian. But all of this only scratches the surface of titles to get excited about.
Whether you’re heading to Austin this week or keeping track...
The 2024 SXSW Film & TV Festival’s Opening Night TV Premiere is the highly anticipated Netflix series 3 Body Problem created, executive produced and written by Emmy Award winners David Benioff and D. B. Weiss and Emmy Award nominee Alexander Woo. The Midnighter category includes buzzy titles like Samara Weaving-starring Azrael and Sundance favorite It’s What’s Inside. The fest’s Headliner section comes packed with highly anticipated titles like Immaculate, Cuckoo, and Arcadian. But all of this only scratches the surface of titles to get excited about.
Whether you’re heading to Austin this week or keeping track...
- 3/4/2024
- by Meagan Navarro
- bloody-disgusting.com
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