by FilmInk Staff
AUSSIE CULT CLASSIC ANGST TURNS 25 AND CELEBRATES WITH A DVD & DIGITAL RELEASE ON DECEMBER 3
“Daniel Nettheim’s first feature Angst is a sympathetic, engaging comedy reminiscent of a French relationship pic. An excellent ensemble cast of attractive actors portrays a bunch of wounded characters trying to sort out their lives in a confusing world.” David Stratton (Variety)
Back in 2000, the world was different… there were these things called video stores; streaming was something you did to celebrate; Donald Trump was just a b-grade celebrity; if you said the word Kardashians, the biggest response would have been from Star Trek fans; and the movie-obsessed influence of new icons Kevin Smith and Quentin Tarantino was everywhere.
Amidst this heady swirl of things now sadly lost to time came the 2000 Australian youth comedy-drama Angst, the pithily, authentically funny brainchild of talented screenwriter Anthony O’Connor, and the first work of director Daniel Nettheim, who would later make his mark with top-tier films like The Hunter and TV series like The Twelve, The Tourist and The Messenger.
Set in the pre-glitz-up, then-seedy borough of Sydney’s Kings Cross, Angst is the hilariously ribald tale of Dean (Sam Lewis), a cynical, unlucky-in-love video store counter-jockey who falls hard for Abi Tucker’s Goth chick May, while navigating a decidedly slacker lifestyle with his two flatmates, wannabe comedian Ian (Justin Smith) and pothead Jade (Jessica Napier).
A terrifically entertaining movie time capsule, Angst was warmly received upon its cinema release, but eventually fell right off the cinematic radar, with no DVD release and a complete non-presence in terms of home media. “It was a big hit on video just after its cinema release,” says Anthony O’Connor. “Huge. Like, always rented out and very frequently stolen. So many video shops had their VHS copies flogged, it was the most regularly shoplifted movie in Australia. This was back when you had to do your movie piracy in store. It was a different time.”
Seemingly lost to the cruel and gristly sands of time, Angst has been duly dusted off and will finally enjoy its long, long overdue debut on DVD and Digital just in time for its 25th anniversary.
The film will also be accompanied by a tasty suite of extras, with two featurettes (The Making of Angst; Kings Cross: Now and Then), the original trailer, SNOG’s music video for their track “Late 20th Century Boy”; and a filmmakers’ commentary featuring director Daniel Nettheim, screenwriter Anthony O’Connor, and producer Jonathon Green.
Get ready to revisit a lost Aussie cult classic with the return of Angst!
Angst will be released on DVD and Digital on December 3
