Review of The Suicide Theory (2014) by Maddison B — 27 May 2016

The Suicide Theory is a somewhat contrived but weirdly compelling Australian neo noir thriller. The filmmaking is a little on the amateurish side, and the writing is a little heavy handed on the concept of fate, yet the grim irony is darkly comic and faults aside it is a bizarrely absorbing film.

A suicidal man, Percival (Leon Cain), hires a contract killer (Steve Mouzaki) to assist him in his suicide, who for reasons unknown has miraculously survived multiple attempts at ending his life.

Dru Brown's sophomore film doesn't fully succeed in making its absurd premise totally convincing, the obvious foreshadowing leads to predictable reveals and the hundred thousand sub plots smother the film in melodrama muck. Nonetheless, I still found the film weirdly captivating with an amusing concept. It too was refreshing to see Leon Cain in a dramatic role, all us Australians would recognise him from every single damn commercial break a la AAMI Insurance ads.

The painfully generic score halts pivotal scenes and it was unfortunate to see no real chemistry between the two leads. The excess jibber jabber of fate, destiny, chance, luck, purpose and so on, chokes the life out of this film. Steve Mouzakis's, Steven, was agonisingly the tough guy who cussed too much and seemed to lack the impression that consequences may arise from carelessly shooting dozens of people...

What could pass as a really well done student grad film, The Suicide Theory contains a tonne of cliché filmmaking mistakes and a very tacked on ending. However, this low budget Australian film somehow will win you over with its inventive story line and gritty sense of amusement.