Reviewed by Rama Gaind.
Writer/director: Storm Ashwood, Defiant Screen Entertainment.
Cast: Josh McConville, Bonnie Sveen, Hugh Sheridan, Steve Le Marquand, Rena Owen.
Writer-director Ashwood (The School) looks beneath the recognisable surface of war in the jungle and shrouds it with the effects of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder on returning servicemen. It’s thought provoking.
It’s a social commentary on how to overcome distressing PTSD symptoms, to move beyond the traumatic experience, and regain control of your life. Stressed is the point about the most effective treatment: to get professional help.
A lone soldier Seth (McConville, Top End Wedding, The Merger) returns to Australia from a mismanaged mission in Myanmar that resulted in the loss not only of one of his best friends, but also his fellow soldiers. He seeks solace, but he’s forced to face ghosts from his past, being tackled by an inexorable journalist about hiding a dark secret.
Ashwood’s second feature explores themes that include suicidal tendencies, inability to integrate, provide support to family and use of alcohol to mask the pain. An ardent storyteller, the director places specific focus on the dramatic, and the deprived, in particular.
McConville delivers a taut, fidgety, commendable performance choc-full of anger and bewilderment as a PTSD-afflicted soldier in a highly ambitious and technically accomplished, psychological war drama.
With dedicated performance and the intricacy he brings to the character, McConville is to be applauded. His versatility is obvious as he easily switches from the vulnerable and emotional character suffering consequences of PTSD episodes to survival in the jungle and brutal physical strength in a bar fight.
The medium of film is well-utilised as Ashwood meets his goal to create, share and tell entertaining and stimulating stories. Flashbacks capably serve the purpose.
