The Snowtown Murders (AKA Snowtown)
Dir: Justin Kurzel
2011
****
The Snowtown Murders is a chilling and grim film based on the testimonies regarding the Snowtown murders and Australia's biggest serial killer, John Bunting. Justin Kurzel has directed a brilliant film. It is visually captivating, in pace and mood. It is uncomfortable viewing but he tells the story as it is, grim, frightening but impossible to look away from. The most uncomfortable fact for many is the fact that John Bunting, at first at least, could sound like someone you might meet in a pub any night of the week. His initial targets are paedophiles, not a group anyone has much sympathy for so a real moral question is at its core that will make you think about your own thoughts and beliefs in the matter. As he then gets a little more indiscriminate (and the film gets more and more uncomfortable), the film gets more and more provocative. It is a great film but a very hard one to watch. The performances are also very good, adding to the eerie sense of realism.