Film Review: Drift

Drift. Rated M (drug use, coarse language, mature themes, violence and sexual references). 113 minutes. Directed by Ben Nott and Morgan O'Neill. Screenplay by Morgan O'Neill.

Verdict: Marvellously assured directorial debuts are a worthy cause for celebration.

Australian filmmakers making their feature length directorial debuts is a worthy cause for celebration – particularly while we are in the midst of a seemingly endless cycle of excessively violent, destruction-focussed, 3D, CGI-heavy slap downs from Hollywood.

With Drift, Nott and O’Neill make marvellously assured debuts as directors – particularly in the stunning opening sequence, shot in black and white, where Kat Kelly (Robyn Malcolm) and her young sons Jimmy and Andy flee their violently abusive home life. Leaving Sydney and heading west, the trio eventually arrive at Margaret River where Kat hopes to begin a new life for herself and her boys. As the film makes a wonderful transition to colour, Jimmy (Xavier Samuel) and Andy (Myles Pollard) have fully embraced the surf culture of their new home, and in a moment of divine inspiration, Andy decides to open a surf shop to service the burgeoning surf gear market up and down the west coast.

When it is not feeling as though it is padded out with clichéd and contrived conflict simply for the sake of it, O’Neill’s screenplay is fascinating. The storyline involving Aaron Glenane (The Black Balloon) as the brothers’ friend Gus who gradually sinks into a terrifying cycle of drug addiction is immensely powerful, and resolved with a stark, ritual brutality that is at odds with the freedom and abandonment with which many of the other characters exist in the world. Glenane’s is the best performance of the film, matched by Kelly’s perfect turn as the mum determined to do whatever it takes to ensure her boys are safe.

Sam Worthington delivers a fine performance as JB, a photographer who helps the Kelly brothers capture the essence of their surf-based world, while Lesley-Ann Brandt (TV’s Spartacus: Gods of the Arena) is perfect as JB’s travelling companion Lani, with whom both of the brothers fall in love.

The mighty Margaret River locations are beautifully photographed by cinematographer Geoffrey Hall (Chopper, Red Dog), while the abundance of fantastic wave action is superbly photographed by surf cinematographers Rick Rifici and Rick Jakovich. Editor Marcus D’Arcy (Tomorrow, When the War Began) ensures that the film moves at an immensely agreeable pace, while the production design from Clayton Jauncey (Beneath Hill 60) recreates the 1970s perfectly.

This review was commissioned by the Geraldton Newspaper Group.