Strangerland is a 2015 drama suspense film directed by Kim Farrant in her directorial debut, and written by Michael Kinirons and Fiona Seres.
[7] Catherine and Matthew Parker move with their children Lily and Tom to the remote Australian desert town of Nathgari.
Although the family is unhappy with the move, Matthew and Tom blame Lily for forcing them to leave the larger town of Coonaburra.
When the school calls to report that Tom and Lily have not been attending, she once again becomes worried, as a dust storm is forecast to hit the town.
It's irate/angsty with hyper-sexualised imagery and includes pictures and poetry about several people: McPherson, the Parker's mentally handicapped handyman Burtie, and a local youth nicknamed Slug.
[5] The other cast members announced included Lisa Flanagan, Martin Dingle-Wall, Meyne Wyatt and Nicholas Hamilton.
[8] On 27 March 2014, it was announced that Maddison Brown had landed a lead role in the film to debut her acting career, which Worldview Entertainment would finance.
[11] The filming was also set to take place in Canowindra and Broken Hill in New South Wales,[10] and Alice Springs in the Northern Territory.
[7] Strangerland was met with mixed to negative reviews, earning a 41% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes based on 68 critics with a weighted average score of 5.17/10.
The site's consensus: "Strangerland has a marvelous cast, but their efforts aren't enough to overcome the story's blandly predictable melodrama.".
[21] Brad Wheeler of The Globe and Mail gave a positive review, calling it "Eerie and unpredictable, Strangerland holds attention, even if traditional suspense tricks are avoided like they were dingos at the daycare.
"[22] Matthew Lickona of San Diego Reader commented "Director Kim Farrant goes for a feeling that's as harsh, unforgiving, and wild as the land she lets the camera linger on, and it's the right idea when handling the potential melodrama of the material.
"[23] Staci Layne Wilson of AtHomeInHollywood.com stated that the film is "presented through a prism of womanly wantonness juxtaposed with a mother's pain and fear.
"[24] Joe McGovern of Entertainment Weekly complimented Nicole Kidman, saying "her best performances have often been as grieving moms (Dead Calm, The Others, Rabbit Hole) and here she provides the flaccid movie's sole flash of daring and unpredictability.
"[25] Richard Roeper of the Chicago Sun-Times gave a negative review, saying the film "runs out of gas, leaving us with a couple of final "Forget You" (shall we say) moments.