The Loved Ones

THE LOVED ONES

Written & Directed by Sean Byrne

Starring Xavier Samuel, Robin McLeavy, Victoria Thaine

This is what I want to see from Aussie films. Something new, daring, creative, and seamlessly put together. Something funny and horrifying in equal measure, and ready to flirt with genre rather than playing housewife to it. And, most importantly, something that is utterly batshit insane.

The Loved Ones begins with Brent (Xavier Samuel) and Jamie (Richard Wilson), two likable outcast teenagers, talking dates for the school graduation dance - I'm skipping a fairly major event here, but I don't want to spoil it for you. Brent is set to attend with his girlfriend Holly (Victoria Thaine), but is still asked by the reclusive Lola (Robin McLeavy), who he lets down gently. Turns out this is a very, very bad idea...  

This is the debut feature from Sean Byrne, and it's a hell of a statement to make. Byrne doesn't like to play straight genre, it seems, and he does a fascinating job of leaping between the morbid and the hilarious - the shifts are quick, but clear. At work here is a sick sense of humour, but one that doesn't ignore the far-reaching ramifications of a person's death. When someone is murdered in this film, you don't feel the mere Michael Bay generation impact of a cheap thrill - it resonates. The lore feels well developed, the cinematography genuinely gobsmacking, and the characters fully grounded. It's particularly impressive when you consider that the protagonist, who is quite empathetic, is predominantly mute.

At the end of it all, I felt that there were a few plot threads left unresolved, particularly as regards some of the characters who are gruesomely splattered. While this left a tiny, bitter taste in the back of my mouth, it didn't overwhelm the sticky delicacy that is everything else on screen. There are two things really grand about this film: the first is that, though it looks flashy as hell, I genuinely believe this kind of thing could be achieved on a fairly small budget, and kudos to Byrne for roping it together. The other is that, for a movie that does so well straying away from the "Australian" genre of film, it is very proud of its origins. It doesn't feel like a cheap, geographically relocated version of an American film (as evidenced by just how unimportant the school dance is), and there is at least one hilariously cheeky nod to the far more serious Wolf Creek - without which it's likely this film never would have happened.

It's great to see an Aussie film breaking from genre, and the few niggling complaints can't help stifle this delightfully rancid injection into the stale Aussie market. If you're up for a gross-out and a giggle, or if you feel like listening to your girlfriend make hilarious squealing noises throughout (as mine did), you're in for a nasty treat.