While many are yet to peg release dates and may shift, anticipation rises for this incredible array from local filmmakers.
We Bury the Dead
The latest from These Final Hours maestro Zak Hilditch was on last year’s list after previewing at the 2024 Adelaide Film Festival, so this general release has been a long time coming. Star Wars alum Daisy Ridley plays Ava, crossing a devastated Tasmania to find her missing husband after an experimental weapon accidentally deployed by the Americans reanimates the brain-scrambled dead. Also featuring Mark Coles Smith and Brenton Thwaites, it’s well worth the inordinate wait.
Wolfram
Kaytetye filmmaker Warwick Thornton’s magnificent new feature continues the monumental story begun in Sweet Country. Philomac, now played by Sweet As star Pedrea Jackson, is sick of his slave-driving dad’s shit (Thomas M Wright), ditching their station when Erroll Shand’s brutal Casey shows up, deciding to aid two Stolen Generations kids in finding their devastated mum (Deborah Mailman).
The Deb
Controversy has a habit of following Pitch Perfect actor Rebel Wilson, so it wasn’t entirely shocking when a Blake Lively vs Justin Baldoni-style legal battle erupted around her directorial debut, delaying its release. A big screen adaptation of Hannah Reilly’s celebrated musical comedy featuring original songs by the incredible Meg Washington, and featuring Natalie Abbott and Charlotte MacInnes, who play cousins with very different views on rural town Dunburn’s debutante ball.
Pasa Faho
Igbo-Australian filmmaker Kalu Oji’s father-son drama was a luminous highlight of this year’s Melbourne International Film Festival, kicking off a national tour at the Sydney Opera House. Comedian Okey Bakassi is top-notch as Azubuike, a Nigerian immigrant to Melbourne’s west with enough on his plate trying to keep his shoe store open, who must also figure out how to reconnect with his estranged son, Obinna/Oscar (Tyson Palmer).
Crowded House
While on the subject of music, Dogs in Space director Richard Lowenstein has teamed up with fellow documentarian Lynn-Maree Milburn (In Bob We Trust) to tell the story of one of Australia’s most beloved imports from Aotearoa. Tracing the tumultuous ups and downs of Neil Finn and the band, it’s sure to deep dive into the peculiar complexities of stardom in much the same way as Lowenstein’s unforgettable Mystify: Michael Hutchence.
Leviticus
Set to debut in Sundance’s Midnight section, Melbourne filmmaker Adrian Chiarella’s spooky debut feature unites Talk to Me lead Joe Bird with Crazy Fun Park’s Stacy Clausen as queer teenagers besotted with one another. Alas, they’re not just smothered by the fanatically religious residents of their small town. There’s also a malevolent spirit abroad that will use their passion for one another against them.
The Colleano Heart
Pauline Clague’s documentary feature traces the remarkable history of an Aboriginal-run circus that travelled the world, entertaining the likes of Charlie Chaplin. The twist is that they could only do so by covering up their First Nations heritage to avoid punitive restrictions on their family business. A detective story of sorts, it reveals the incredible truth through an intimate personal journey connected to the family.
Jimpa
The latest from Good Luck to You, Leo Grande filmmaker Sophie Hyde straddles her hometown, Adelaide, and Amsterdam. Fictionalising elements of her personal story, it focuses on where intergenerational queer identity politics connect and diverge. Olivia Colman is Hannah, Aud Mason-Hyde plays her non-binary teenager, Frances, and Love is Strange lead John Lithgow is her firebrand father.
The Fox
Colman also shows up as the voice of a sneaky fox in this darkly comic fable from Danger 5 co-creator Dario Russo. Twisting the easily bendable arm of Dangerous Animals star Jai Courtney’s Nick, he shoves his wandering partner Kori (One More Shot lead Emily Browning) into a mysterious hole, only for her to return, days later, mysteriously pliant if decidedly feral. Sam Neill voices a cheeky magpie, with the stacked cast also including Miranda Otto, Heather Mitchell and Damon Herriman.
Birthright
Debuting at Tribeca before heading to the Sydney Film Festival, West Australian playwright-turned-filmmaker Zoe Pepper’s scabrous delight sideswipes the cost-of-living/housing crisis. Cory (Travis Jeffery) hits rock bottom, slinking back to his parents’ (Linda Cropper and Michael Hurst) palatial place with heavily pregnant partner Jasmine (Maria Angelico). But the boomers aren’t ready to give up their privilege in this chaotic good chamber piece.
Penny Lane is Dead
Graduating from working behind-the-scenes magic, Mia’Kate Russell’s debut directorial feature is a surf’s up shocker set in 1986. Three high school graduates—Bailey Spalding (Scrublands: Silver), Tahlee Fereday (Triple Oh!) and Alexandra Jensen (Talk to Me)—just wanna have fun. But when cousin Kat (Sophia Wright-Mendelsohn) shows up with a gang of goons led by Ben O’Toole, everything goes tits up.
Sweet Milk Lake
Stage star and Deadloch actor Harvey Zielinski marks his directorial debut with this tender tale of a trans man who leans into it when his dying dad confuses him for his butch cis twin. Zielinski plays both brothers in this fascinating-sounding examination of masculinity. Also look out for Zielinski’s Deadloch co-star Mia Morrissey and Reckless lead Hunter Page-Lochard.
Death of an Undertaker
Writer/director Christian Byers—AKA Bump’s hippy dip Bowie—spent years shooting his experimental debut feature in a Leichardt funeral parlour in the heart of Sydney’s Italian community. Adopting the undertakers as co-stars, Byers’ trippy fiction with documentary-like energy forges a liminal dalliance with mortality, guiding lost souls back to the centre when all is spiritually lost.
The Beast in Me
No, not the Clare Danes show. Tyler Atkins, The Amazing Race Australia winner, directs this MMA movie co-written by David Frigerio and Gladiator star Russell Crowe. The latter appears as the trainer attempting to get Daniel MacPherson’s commercial fisherman match ready. Also featuring Luke Hemsworth, Shayda’s Mojean Aria and indie musician Amy Sharks in her first acting gig, it was shot between Sydney and Bangkok.
Zombucha!
Wellness influencers snake oiling their be-wares on Insta seem like brain-dead zombie –an idea harnessed by Claudia Dzienny’s highly original spin on the undying sub-genre. A dubiously entrepreneurial couple (Ryan O’Kane and screenwriter Emma Leonard) steal a scoby that spawns something far more demonic than kombucha in this farcical romp that also features The Breaker Upperers Jackie van Beek.
