Sweet Country

“Stepping back in time” is one way to describe the sheer honesty and brutality conveyed in the upcoming film, Sweet Country. Director Warwick Thornton, who created the Aussie masterpiece Samson and Delilah, has upped the ante with his latest film and delivers a story where cultures, ideologies and values clash, and spark a fugitive chase spanning the vast plains of the outback.

The meat pie Western film is set in 1929 in the fictional town of Henry, just outside Alice Springs. The story opens with Sam Kelly (Hamilton Morris) working for Fred Smith (Sam Neill), an egalitarian preacher who clings to his Bible. Shooting through is Harry March (Ewen Leslie) — a shell-shocked World War I veteran crippled by demons from fighting in the trenches — looking for help on his cattle yards. Fred offers Sam’s services and Sam, his wife Lizzie (Natassia Gorey-Furber) and niece comply but are at the mercy of Harry’s violent and inhumane temper. Following another aggressive outburst, Harry tries to hunt down Philomac (Tremayne Doolan and Trevon Doolan) for running away after being chained to a rock all night, resulting in Sam killing Harry in self-defense.

Panicked and fearful for his and his family’s fate, Sam and Lizzie flee the crime scene only to be pursued by a no-nonsense Sergeant Fletcher (Bryan Brown), Fred and station owner Mick Kennedy (Thomas M. Wright). When Sam learns Lizzie is pregnant as a result of Harry forcing himself on her, Sam decides to turn himself in. He is put on trial in front of the entire town, but with a whole town eager to see him hang, will justice be served?

Inspired by real events, Sweet Country stars a mix of Australia’s finest and local Alice Springs Aboriginal actors.

The performances are all outstanding, especially the scenes between Morris and Gorey-Furber as they grapple with a gamut of emotions following Lizzie’s rape. Gorey-Furber’s expressions throughout the film said more than words ever could of a woman stripped of her power and denied a voice.

The landscape — the barren desert, tranquil water holes, mesmerising salt plains — morphs into a character of its own, especially in how the Aboriginal characters communicate with the land. Notions of Country are explored with many of the Aboriginal characters exhibiting strong ties to their land whereas the ‘white fellas’ remain largely ignorant.

Sweet Country is fantastic. It was a stark reminder of what Australia was like back in the day, life in the outback, and the tensions between the Indigenous community and white settlers. The film uses the majestic yet unforgiving desert to craft a brutal yet ultimately heartfelt and moving story that does not shy away from a dark chapter in our past.

Sweet Country
In cinemas Thursday, 25 January 2025
View Trailer