Pardon the potential pun, but Nicole Kidman is no stranger to strange movies, taking for example 1999's "Eyes Wide Shut", 2003's "Dogville" and the more recent "The Killing of a Sacred Deer". She puts herself out there without self-consciousness, as one might note in a particular scene in this film when she comes walking out of the desert into the town of Nathgari. The unbalanced behavior of her character, Catherine Parker, suggests a promiscuous past that carries over into the desperate search for her missing teenage children in the Australian desert. At times of increased stress, she comes on to a local laborer (Meyne Wyatt) with limited mental capacity, as well as the town police officer (Hugo Weaving) leading the missing persons investigation. There are definite indications of mental illness that enters into the troubled marriage she shares with husband Matthew (Joseph Fiennes). It's no wonder that her daughter Lily (Maddison Brown), influenced by her dysfunctional parents, would act out in similarly inappropriate ways, after the family moved from another small town due to an affair the teenage girl had with a teacher. The film leaves no room for noble characters in it's depressing story, as policeman Rae (Weaving) destroys evidence that would implicate Burtie (Wyatt), brother of the woman he finds comfort with when off duty, while later failing to take action against Matthew Parker for beating up the young man. Ancillary characters also prove to be disagreeable, as if the entire town is under some sort of spell that becomes a harbinger of a vicious dust storm that engulfs it before a proper search can get under way. Making the disappearance of the teens even weirder is the fact that they did not leave together. Son Tommy (Nicholas Hamilton) was a persistent sleep walker, while Lily left intentionally. The story's fitful conclusion unfortunately, is left up to the imagination of the viewer, for even though Tommy was eventually found in distressed condition by his father, the grieving parents are left to confront the horrific circumstance of their missing daughter, along with their own estrangement from each other in a marriage at the breaking point.
Review of Strangerland
