Review of Red Billabong (2016) by Alaisdair D — 21 Nov 2016

Australian films have seen a resurgence lately with great films like The Babadook and Wyrmwood : Road Of The Dead. The trailer and aggressive social media campaign for Red Billabong left my expectations high and as I was ushered into the cinema at the Gold Coast premiere event, the turn out and audience expectation was extremely high. Fortunately I was not disappointed, Red Billabong dares to draw on Aboriginal mythology with top notch production and plenty of jump scares that make this one of the freakiest and best movies of 2016.

Red Billabong follows estranged brothers Tristan (Tim Pocock) and Nick (Dan Ewing) as they reunite at their old family farm in Queensland. They meet there after the death of their grandfather and need to decide what to do with the land. The brothers are approached by the uneasy Mr Richards (Felix Williamson) who wants to purchase the property, but after holding a party with their friends they get curious and believe there is something in the bush surrounding the house. A warning from Mr Garvey (Gregory J Fryer) who leads a band of Aboriginal supernatural fighters (and no I am not making this up!) leads to a supernatural mystery that will have everyone guessing right till the end.

This film is the directorial debut for Luke Sparke and you wouldn't know it. Every moment of this film has been planned and shot so carefully and beautifully. The Gold Coast landscape is breath taking and the talented cast are infectious to watch, this combined with the stunning and well crafted CGI creature is Hollywood quality and doesn't leave you with any doubts that this is real. Go into this movie without knowing much about the plot as you can, this is how this movie is meant to be consumed and with plenty of nods to creature features like Jurassic Park and Aliens, this offers a unique and definite Australian spin on the classic 90's monster creature feature.

Adding in Aboriginal mythology and indigenous cast members is something that movie goers have been crying out for, and Billabong delivers this in such an original and interesting way, who wouldn't want Mr Garvey and his band of Aboriginal fighters defending the bush against a myriad of monsters. The blend of indigenous mythology and creature feature is well crafted and spun into a movie that you can feel the love and care for this story but also for Australian cinema and the art of film making.

Red Billabong has surpassed all my expectations, seeing an Australian movie of high cinematic and production quality mixed with a great story and showcasing outstanding indigenous actors is not an easy feat for a CGI monster romper. Sparke and his crew have delivered one of the finest Australian films of the last few years and this deserves to be seen in cinemas. The movie is led successfully with outstanding performances by Ewing and the rest of the cast as they clearly love the source material.