October 30th 2025
Bugonia
Deeper
Happyend
Journey Home: David Gulpilil
Two feature films and two excellent documentaries grace our screens this week. Greek auteur Lanthimos is back with a stunning new film, the Japanese film Happyend is highly original, while the thrills and terror of cave-diving featue in the doco Deeper, and the funeral of our beloved David Gulpilil gives a rare insight into Yolgnu culture.
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© Universal - funny and disturbing with
top-notch performances |
Teddy (Jesse Plemons) is knee deep in conspiracy theories, believing that aliens from the Andromeda galaxy are here and are out to destroy planet Earth. Along with his none-too-smart cousin Don (Aidan Delbis), he plans to kidnap Michelle Fuller (Emma Stone), the highpowered CEO of a pharmaceutical company, convinced she is one of the aliens. To say too much more plot-wise would be to give away too much. Based upon the Korean film Save the Green Planet, this extraordinary film can be interpreted on many levels. It is biting as a commentary upon modern day corporate gobbledy-gook and manipulative speak, as epitomised by Michelle. It is an even more chilling look at the rabbit hole down which many people today have gone - believing in all manner of conspiracies, and following through to commit criminal acts, believing them to be for a valid reason. It also mercilessly condemns what humans have done to the planet, taking us on that path from the tranquil opening scenes of bees, with their vital importance explained. Bugonia walks a delicate fine line between satire, humour, fantasy, whip-smart dialogue, tension and gore. Lanthimos favorites Plemons and Stone give career best performances as two characters so opposite in style and nature. Their debates and physical confrontations are mesmerising. Settings, color pallettes and clever camera angles all heighten the effects of both humour and drama, which constantly play off each other. With a couple of amazing twists to blow viewers' minds at the end, this is a film to relish for its imaginative, funny and shocking take on so many of today's most disturbing issues.4.5 - wholeheartedly recommended
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© Garage - bravery or lunacy? Cave-diving
taken to a new level |
No-one can forget the extraordinary rescue of 13 people from a flooded Thai cave in mid 2018. Nor the fact that an Australian anaesthetist Dr Richard "Harry" Harris was largely responsible for the amazing success of that mission. Now this film dedicates itself to that man, and his quest to dive 230 meters into a cave known as the Pearce Resurgence in New Zealand. With his buddy Craig Challen (also pivotal in the Thai cave rescue), they prepare for a dive that requires inventing a totally new breathing system involving hydrogen tanks. For me the film felt like a horrifying edge-of-the-seat thriller, so tense and claustrophobic did I find the setting, and so oppressive the suits they were kitted out in. But it is also about one man's quest to prove something to himself (God knows why - he already proved himself a hero!) Director Peedom is known for films that follow people doing challenging things (Mountain, Sherpa), and here she captures beautifully just what it means to put your life on the line to pursue an obsessive quest. As a real-life thriler, this is a winner. 3.5 - well recommended
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© Plainwater Films - a very different take on
graduating high-school in authoritarian Tokyo |
A highly-awarded film, especially in Asian festivals, Happyend is set in a slighly futuristic Tokyo. Best friends Yuta (Hayato Kurihara) and Kou (Yukito Hadaka) are rebellious, share a love of music, and are about to graduate high school. When they pull a prank on the principal, the school ends up installing a surveillance system. Their extended group of friends and school community end up with divergent views on the system, and society in general, which starts to fracture the harmony of the friendships. At the same time Tokyo is under constant threat of earthquake, and experiencing an increasingly oppressive policing system. Director Sora manages to strike a lovely balance between adolescent drama, social commentary and slightly futuristic tale. The actors playing all the students capture perfectly that state of adolescence that is on the cusp of adulthood, and the friendships all feel very believable. There is subtle humor in the portrayal of the school's authoritarianism, and the fact that the students feel compelled to stand up to it brings in a sense of hope for the future. With a lovely soundtrack backing it, this is a surprisingly complex and engaging coming of age story.4 - highly recommended
Journey Home
Dir: Maggie Miles, Trisha Morton-Thomas
Length: 88 mins
Locations: Cameo, Nova, Classic and select Palace Cinemas
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© Madman - David Gulpilil's journey to his
final resting place - amazing insight into
Yolgnu culture |
David Gulpilil is an iconic name in the pantheon of Aussie actors. He started his career in 1971 as a teenage boy in Walkabout, having been discovered in his homeland of Arnhem Land by director Nicolas Roeg, scouting for a dancer and actor. After an incredible career of nearly 20 films to his name, David died in 2021. He had asked his family to bury him on his homeland, near the remote community of Gupulul. This meant a 4000 km journey, with extraordinary logistical challenges. This film chronicles that journey, as David's body is driven, flown, helicoptered and driven clear across the country, while his family faces the same challenges, including navigating crocodile-infested rivers and trekking days on foot. Beside the logistics of this final journey, the film highlights in depth the complexity and importance of traditional Yolgnu culture to David and his vast extended family. Viewers get a rare insight into the beautiful ceremonies of song and dance that accompany the days-long funeral ritual, and we learn about songlines and mythology, all complemented by a lovely soundtrack. Allan Collins cinematography lights up the screen, reflecting the vastness and beauty of remote Arnhem Land, counterbalanced with many close-up shots and interviews with people from family and local clans. This is a precious and privileged insight into a man who walked between two worlds, and into his spiritual world and the Homeland where he is finally laid to rest. A moving, enlightening and important film. 4 - highly recommended
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