"The Dry" -- Movie Review

 

This week, Lincoln Center arranged an advance screening of the new Australian crime thriller from IFC Films, “The Dry”, starring Eric Bana.

Synopsis

When an investigator is asked to help solve a murder-suicide, will the suspicious locals let him do his job even though they are aware of his own questionable past?

Story

Having spent the past twenty years living in Melbourne, Aaron Falk (Bana) has managed to earn great success as a federal agent – but he still has many memories of the small town in the Victoria region where he grew up.  Not all of those memories are necessarily good, however.  Part of the reason why he hasn’t been back there in quite some time is because people believe that he covered up a girl’s murder when they were adolescents.  Falk has been haunted with that possibility ever since.  Now, with that farming town enduring a drought that has lasted almost a year, Falk must return to attend the funeral of his old friend, Luke. 

Luke is believed to have died in a murder-suicide, where it’s thought that he killed his wife and son before taking his own life.  What makes attending this funeral even more painful for Falk is the fact that Luke is believed to have been the one who murdered Ellie, their mutual friend.  While in town for the funeral, Luke’s parents ask Falk to unravel this mystery to determine why this tragedy happened.  Reluctantly, he agrees to stay on a while longer to see if he can figure out all of this.  It won’t be easy, though, because many of the residents still remember who Falk is and believe he was complicit in Ellie’s death.

During his stay, Falk rekindles a relationship he had with Gretchen; a mother now, Gretchen knew Falk back in the day and was also friends with Ellie and Luke.  During his investigation, Falk becomes suspicious of just about everyone he interviews.  There are so many people in this area that theoretically could have insight into what may have happened, but still no clue as to why.  Will Falk be able to solve the crime and in so doing, restore his good name?    

Review

“The Dry” is based on a popular novel of the same name by Jane Harper; in Australia, this movie adaptation was a big hit.  What’s most compelling about the film is not only the crime that Falk is trying to solve, but also, his own personal demons from the past that centered around that area where he grew up.  His internal struggles to come to terms with his fallibility as a mere teen are interwoven with the investigation, where he encounters a number of triggering moments.  Falk will never forget what happened, but will he ever forgive himself?

Where “The Dry” becomes problematic is in how it resolves both stories – the crime and Falk’s past.  Although the loose ends are tied up by the conclusion of the movie, it’s easy to get a little confused by some of the details.  While viewers can certainly draw their own conclusion about these specifics, it’s probably best to read the novel before seeing the film.  In writing this review, information about the book had to be researched in order to confirm (or refute) certain assumptions.  This can turn out to be more than just a little bit frustrating since some things aren’t spelled out as clearly as one might like, given the two-hour investment.   

Following the screening, there was a Zoom interview with the star of “The Dry”, Eric Bana, and the director/co-writer, Robert Connolly.  Connolly said that he was given a manuscript of the book before it was published; he liked it so much he eventually approached Bana about appearing in the adaptation – coincidentally, by that time, Bana’s wife had already read the book and urged him to join on.  Bana said that he was intrigued by the story more so than the character; what he found appealing was the idea of attending a school reunion you didn’t really want to attend.  The movie was shot mostly out of sequence, except for the scenes with the teenagers.