Killing Ground

Killing Ground, the first feature film from writer and director Damien Power, is an unpleasant film. A survival thriller set deep in the outback where the suspense is constant and unrelenting, making for a thrilling but ultimately unenjoyable theatre-going experience.

Arriving at an isolated campsite, young city folk Ian (Ian Meadows) and Sam (Harriet Dyer) prepare for a romantic weekend away amongst the beautiful surrounding bushland. The mood sours somewhat with the discovery of another tent nearby with no occupants, followed closely by the sudden arrival of two hunters looking to cover their tracks.

Killing Ground is structured around three interweaving narratives: Ian and Sam’s story in the present; the hunters’ (Aaron Pedersen and Aaron Glenane) story in the present; and the missing family in the past. Constantly shifting back and forth across the three timelines, credit should go to Power and his editor, Katie Flaxman, for making the narrative easily decipherable as they converge towards an inevitable, and at times predictable, climax. It is this structure and overarching mystery that helps create a constant level of unease, aided by the terrific use of the bush, an inherently dangerous place, to create and sustain an atmosphere where anything could go wrong at any turn.

Tackling issues of rape and sexual assault, Power’s film is never an easy watch as characters are subjected to truly awful physical trauma that at times perhaps lingers too long or goes too far. Characters are stripped, beaten and violated yet there is never a satisfying reason as to why. The villains are sadists and that seems to be their only motivation. So too does the ending seem lacking, leaving some of the characters’ fates frustratingly unanswered.

Approaching the often formulaic Australian thriller genre from a new angle, Power’s debut film shows promise in its novel structure and sustained tone but questionable story choices threaten to overpower an otherwise thrilling film.

Killing Ground
In cinemas now
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