FILM: Australian thriller Wish You Were Here
Australian writer director Kieran Darcy-Smith riveted me at the Sundance Film Festival a few years back with his dark look at family crime, Animal Kingdom. Now back with the co-written tale of a nasty holiday trip, Wish You Were Here reminded me of Animal Kingdom’s power, with equally riveting performances and some killer, jump-in-your-seat surprises.
However, the new film’s structure of random flashbacks weakens this tale of dark secrets and the holiday from hell in Thailand. Think The Hangover II if it wasn’t a comedy and had something to say about truth, lies, and terror.
The story revolves around two sisters, the husband of one and the relatively new boyfriend of the other. It’s the boyfriend (Antony Starr) who goes missing, setting off a chain of events focused on David (Joel Edgerton), and his wife Alice (Felicity Price).
The grudgingly doled out flashbacks tell the story of what happened in fits and starts; but despite their eventual, horrifying reveal, the most potent drama is the present time fear, anger, and threat visited on and through David and Alice back home with their children in Australia. Edgerton and Price (who also co-wrote the script) are brilliant in their roles, and ratchet up the thrills in this overall chilling thriller.
See the film for the performances, and those moments when the unexpected comes crashing straight through the screen.
Wish You Were Here will open in Los Angeles on June 7th at the Nuart Theatre.
