Movie Number 35 of 2025
The Movie: Kangaroo Island
The Cinema: Hoyts Victoria Gardens
Runtime: One hour 53 minutes
Stars: 3.5 with an extra point five for being South Australian
Fun fact. As a child I'd often see Kangaroo Island on the horizon from the school bus window at the top of Springmount Road as it intersects with James' Track. Fun fact, I lost my first tooth on Kangaroo Island when we were on holidays as a kid. It was on Kangaroo Island that I learned to play pinball.
Of course I was going to see this film. I'm South Australian. I have to support the SA film industry. Besides, the tooth fairy has my first tooth somewhere just out of Penneshaw.
I'm glad I went along on the whim.
It's a simple story. Lou (Rebecca Breeds) is a flailing actress, down on her luck in Los Angeles, couch surfing at friends' places, friends who have obviously had a gut full of her and she's out of favour with her agent.
When her father, Rory (Erik Thomson) sends her an airline ticket home, Lou has no desire to return to her family - but the universe and circumstance conspire against her, and she ends up home on Kangaroo Island.
It is there you meet the rest of the family. Her newly god-bothering sister (Adelaide Clemens), her ex and brother-in-law, Ben (Joel Jackson) and her best mate and aunt. It's at the family hope where we work out that all is not well. There's a huge riff between the sisters and something's up with Dad.
I won't say much more. To be honest, I found the plot a little predictable. However, the script, though twee in places, was good enough to keep the action moving. What I loved was how island life was so well represented. The running joke about Lou's non-existent bag being one of those things. The locals being aware of everybody's business being the other. Other little gems like the woman who ran the Vivonne Bay shop (who was the daughter of one of my high school teachers - there you go) had a couple of wonderful one-liners. Also, the relationship between the sisters was believable and well-acted.
Rebecca Breeds holds up this film as the doleful Lou. She lights up the screen. The rest of the cast are good too. The acting is solid.
Talking to a couple of women after the film, it appears this a passion project of the director, Timothy David (One of the women knew his father). There's nothing wrong with the direction. Sally Gifford's script is pacy enough to keep the action moving, even if there are some predictable things that go down.
But I will forgive this film's flaws as the setting and cinematography are just wonderful. Kangaroo Island is a place of quiet desolation and pristine beaches, a land of strange and wonderful rock formations and stunning scenery. It is regenerating after half the island was burned to a crisp in the 2019-2020 fires. It's the scenery and animals that makes the film.
The fact that I come from 50 kilometres away as the crow flies and the landscape is as familiar as the back of my hand sealed the deal.
I'm sure that only a few people will see this, but supporting the Australian film industry is important. And this film reminded me of home.
p.s. According to the end titles, as opposed to the script, a pie and a beer at the Vivonne Bay shops does not cost $65. I'm glad they cleared that up.
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