Sydney Film Festival – movie reviews

Colony

Korean director Yeon sang-ho (Train To Busan, 2016) returns to the zombie genre with the entertaining Colony. Here he replaces the train setting with the claustrophobic confines of a multi-storey business tower that houses a mix of retail and commercial spaces, and even a convention centre.

Bitter scientist Seo Young-chui (Koo Kyo-hwan) unleashes a highly contagious virus in the centre where the CEO of his former employer is holding a seminar. The virus transforms people into savage zombies. But even more frightening is that those infected operate in a hive mind, like a colony of ants, acting together with a swarm mentality and even communicating via sensory data and evolving. A group of uninfected people desperately struggles to survive and stop the plague from spreading outside to the wider community. As the group dynamics play out there are those who make stupid decisions, act selfishly and are willing to sacrifice others to ensure their own survival.

Colony offers another variation on a theme that we have seen many times before, but Yeon maintains a fast pace throughout and ramps up the tension and the increasing sense of dread. There is plenty of gore and some great prosthetic effects. Regular collaborator choreographer Jeon Young has worked on creating the contortions and body movements for the fast-moving zombies.

Strange River

This queer coming of age drama would make a fine companion piece to Call Me By Your Name. Buoyed by some lyrical imagery from cinematographer Pablo Paloma and a whiff of nostalgia, Strange River obviously holds some deep personal resonance for Spanish born director Juame Claret Muxart, who makes his feature film debut.

A family of five is spending its summer holiday cycling along the banks of the Danube. While architect father Albert (Jordi Oriol) likes to expound on the history of the region, actress mother Monika (Nausicaa Bonnin) is rehearsing lines for an upcoming play. Sixteen-year-old Didac (newcomer Jan Monter) is wrestling with his own sexuality and preferring to spend time by himself, away from his siblings. He is desperate for love and attention, and wants to be desired. During one stop over, Didac spots Alexander (Francesco Wenz), a handsome teenager, and the two begin a silent flirtation. They then borrow a boat for a journey along the river. Their relationship is shaped by long periods of silence and tender, fleeting glances.

But is Alexander merely a figment of Didac’s awakening libido? Muxart is not giving any easy answers here, instead letting the audience decide what’s real or not, drawing upon their own experiences and perspective. The camera loves the handsome Monter. He has the same magnetic appeal as the young Bjorn Andresen in Visconti’s classic about unrequited love and lust Death In Venice.

Pressure

This engaging, intelligent and superbly cast drama is set on the eve of the D-Day invasion of France in 1944 and is based on a true story.

General Eisenhower (Brendan Fraser), the supreme commander of the allied forces, has assembled a team of meteorologists and charged them with giving him an accurate forecast for the day of the proposed landings – originally Monday, June 5th, 1944. Eisenhower’s team is led by Krick (Chris Messina), upon whom he has relied in the past. But Churchill insists on having one of his own men lead them. Enter Group Captain Stagg (Andrew Scott), a dour and humourless Scott. Stagg clashes with Krick, disparaging his reliance on historical weather charts to forecast a clear day. Stagg forecasts storms, high tides and rain, suggesting that the invasion be delayed. Tensions rise as the two men constantly clash and Eisenhower is uncertain of which of the two is accurate. The tension is palpable as Eisenhower weighs up his decision.

Pressure is based on a 2014 play, written by actor and playwright David Haig. Most of the drama takes place within the confines of the drawing room where the meteorologists work, but Australian director Anthony Maras and Haig have attempted to open up the drama up beyond its stage setting, especially with their depiction of horror of the D-Day landing itself, an intense sequence that will recall the opening of Spielberg’s Saving Private Ryan.

Maras has assembled a solid ensemble cast to bring these historical figures to life. Fraser is full of bluster as Eisenhower, upon whose shoulders rests the decision of the timing to launch Operation Overlord. Scott captures Stagg’s prickly nature, but he also conveys his intelligence, dedication and strength of conviction. Damian Lewis is appropriately arrogant and insufferable as the British General Bernard Montgomery.Kerry Condon presents a more sympathetic figure as warrant officer Summersby, Eisenhower’s loyal and indispensable assistant. Her solid presence balances out the raging testosterone on display.

Pressure is a fine gripping drama centred around one of the most significant historical events of the 20th Century.

Leviticus

Horror and queer drama have often been explicitly linked through people like Frankenstein author Mary Shelley and filmmaker James Whale. Leviticus taps into this rich history. Taking its title from a book of the Old Testament, this creepy Australian horror film from writer/director Adrian Chiarella is set in a small rural community. Leviticus explores potent themes of the supernatural, religion, homophobia and queer identity in a secluded and repressive community.

Teenager Naim (Joe Bird) is the new kid in town and is struggling to fit in. He finds a kindred spirit in the handsome Ryan (Stacy Clausen) and they enjoy a brief flirtatious fling. But when Naim catches Ryan making out with Hunter (Jeremy Blewitt), who works at the local service station, he jealously informs on them to Hunter’s father, the local pastor. An intervention is arranged with a faith healer (Nicholas Hope) who performs an “exorcism” on the boys.

This unleashes something nasty, an inescapable malevolent shape shifting entity, which only Naim and Ryan can see. It assumes the shape of the person they most desire (each other) and pursues them, attacking them when they are alone. Partly inspired by horror films like It Follows, Leviticus also touches upon the controversial practice of gay conversion therapy that was at the heart of Boy Erased.

First time filmmaker Chiarella exploits familiar horror tropes, albeit giving them a queer bent. Chiarella imbues the material with an increasing sense of unease and dread. The heightened soundscape is also deliberately unsettling with every boom resonating. Cinematographer Tyson Perkins effectively captures the small-town setting using the sparse locations to further emphasis the uneasy mood. Bird captures Naim’s loneliness and his quirky and uneasy personality. Mia Wasikowska makes the most of her small role as Arlene, Naim’s unforgiving and emotionally distant mother.

To find out more about the movies to see at the Sydney Film Festival and to book, go to: https://www.sff.org.au The festival continues until 14th June, 2026.

Greg King