"After a robbery scam that goes bad, lovers Nikki and Al take off into the Australian outback, pursued by the police and a malevolent footballer named Zipper Doyle, and meet a number of offbeat characters."

(Cover notes, DVD release) A woman off-camera explains how she has difficulty trusting people, especially men, because of things she saw when she was young.

This comment introduces a prologue in which a little girl watches helplessly as a man (Syd Brisbane), presumably her father, appears at the door, douses her mother with petrol, and sets her alight.

A video in the patent attorney's briefcase features a famous ex-footballer, Zipper Doyle, engaged in pedophilia.

That night they stop at a motel in the middle of nowhere, run by a lonely eccentric by the name of Stan (Max Cullen).

This incident and a sleepwalking episode later that night not only underscore the lovers' precarious situation but also serve as reminders of Nikki's horrible past.

Adler suggests the couple stay at his place nearby (amusingly located in a former nuclear testing site).

In a concluding voice-over, Nikki explains who was responsible for the murders on the road and how they got off for the death of the patent attorney (always wipe your prints and only target pedophiles).

He was talking with a crew member who started sharpening a Rambo knife and joked that he could easily kill Bennett and no one would ever know.

Like several of Bennett's previous movies, there was not a traditional script, but a detailed screen treatment, with the dialogue created with actor's input.

[4] However, Kiss or Kill is often referred to as a thriller, due to the film's unique presentation and regular use of red herrings to trick the audience.

Rather than the usual setup of rebels running from oppression, the movie portrays the detectives chasing them as clever jokers.

[10] Urban Cinephile wrote, "Matt Day's good looks belie a certain undercurrent which he uses to full effect in his character of Al."[11] A January 1998 SFGate article included it on a list of the best films of 1997, which was based on the ratings of 40 major American critics.

This scene takes place at a roadside diner, as the detectives have a conversation about how the younger of the two, Crean, doesn't eat bacon.

James Berardinelli stated in his review of the film,[10] the scene begins similar to something from Pulp Fiction, with the conversation being borderline hysterical.

Frances O'Connor won Best Actress at the 1997 Montreal World Film Festival along with Wayne Peashley for Best Artistic Contribution in relation to sound.