The Dry Parent Guide

Like much of Australia, Kiewarra is in desperate need of rain. Years of severe drought have put the local farmers into an impossible position, but they don’t have many options. So when Luke Hadler (Martin Dingle Wall) is found dead with apparently self-inflicted gunshot wounds, and his wife Karen (Rosanna Lockhart) and son Billy (Jarvis Mitchell) are found dead in their home with similar wounds, the community assumes that Luke simply snapped from the stress. Luke’s childhood friend Aaron Falk (Eric Bana), now a Federal Agent, comes home for the funeral, but he quickly becomes involved in the investigation at the behest of Luke’s parents (Bruce Spence and Julia Blake), with some help from local police sergeant Greg Raco (Keir O’Donnell) and old friend Gretchen (Genevieve O’Reilly). And while the investigation drags on, Aaron begins to suspect it may be tied to the reason he left town in the first place: The mysterious drowning of yet another childhood friend, Ellie Deacon (BeBe Bettencourt) nearly 20 years ago…

Crime mysteries are very hit and miss. As a rule of thumb, if you can figure out who did it within the first half-hour, the movie is going to be pretty rough. Thankfully, The Dry managed to keep me guessing for the better part of the runtime. Either way, the cast does a pretty remarkable job. Eric Bana is restrained in his performance, but the choices he makes are clearly motivated by the character and the result is remarkably engaging. And, although he only has a minor role, I just love to see Bruce Spence in anything.

As far as parents are concerned, the largest issue here is likely to be the profanity, of which there is plenty. Although the violence sounds quite intense, very little is actually shown directly, and amounts to a very small portion of the runtime. This is a mystery and the focus is on the investigation, not some gruesome horror thriller with fountains of gore every now and then to keep the audience interested. However, this is still best suited to an adult audience, both for the content and for the slow-paced investigative plot.

There’s not much else I can say without giving up some of the twists and turns of the storyline, and since this is actually a well made film, I don’t want to spoil it for anyone. Provided you can stomach a little violence and a fair amount of fluent profanity, this is a gripping little mystery in a hard-up little town. Between the drought and the murders, there’s plenty going on here to keep you interested.