Robert Connelly's
slow burn mystery, The Dry is one of the most engrossing viewing
experiences of the year. Featuring the best performance of Eric Bana's
career, evocative visuals, and an unrelenting aura of unease, this a
deceptively simple detective story that winds its way into the viewer's
subconscious before releasing a payload of heartbreaking truths and dangerous
revelations.
An Australian federal agent returns to his hometown and is drawn into an
investigation into the death of his childhood best friend's entire family,
while also contending with the ghosts of his own mysterious past. What
follows is an exhausting criminal investigation in which secrets are revealed
and no one within the small, droughted community will ever be the same.
Based on the novel by Jane Harper, Connolly and Harry Cripps screenplay is
stripped down to almost only essential parts and the yield is impressive.
This is a bare bones story in which the journey is more important than the
resolution. Bana gives what is easily one of the strongest performances
of the year as Agent Falk, a man with a compromised past who is not only forced
to return to a place where he is not wanted, but is also forced to confront
those who disdain him.
Steven Duscio's cinematography is another vital piece. His shots of the Australian wilderness are both awe inducing and heart wrenching as the dried-out landscape serves as a constant specter that haunts each of the principals. Even the interior shots and close ups during dialogue have an uncomfortableness to them that mimics the ambiance throughout. It is clear just how wrong things are by how far away from one another people stand to communicate, filling the voice with silent intentions and accusations.
In the end this is an unusually strong effort that skirts the boundaries of the genre comfortably. While the central mystery is somewhat thin, it is the character drama and occasional bursts of shocking violence and brutality that ensure The Dry will remain with you long after the credits roll. It is a quiet, contemplative film that approaches the sins of the past with a practical and sorrowful amount of candor. These are real people in a real, lived in and used up world who are struggling to survive. When the demons of before meet the monsters of the now, The Dry showcases how lonely death truly is, both for the deceased and the survivors.
Now available for digital rental, The Dry is an exceptional thriller that tackles violence and small-town life in a refreshingly uncomplicated way and the film is all the better for it. This is a straightforward story made complex by powerful performances and an understanding that people are all more interesting than any form of conjured morality. It is the flaws and imperfections that make us so interesting an in Connolly's water deprived daymare, this is the law of the land.
--Kyle Jonathan