Now the compelling film, set entirely during a Melbourne commute, is receiving 5 star reviews as it launches globally on MUBI.
Shot over the course of a year, and featuring Easteal and his lawyer colleague Andrew Rakowski, the film reinterprets their unlikely bond and real-life friendship that developed during a shared evening commute home to the suburbs of Melbourne.
Like the film itself, its reception has been quietly amounting to something extraordinary. It received rave reviews from the trades when in premiered in competition at International Film Festival Rotterdam before screening at more than 30 festivals around the world. It hit numerous ‘best of 2022’ lists, often the only Australian film alongside Baz Luhrmann’s blockbuster Elvis to make the cut, and The 5 star The Guardian review called it ‘an amazing work of art’.
The film launched on MUBI on April 6 internationally, and it has just launched on MUBI for Australian viewers this month.
The Plains is the first feature film from Easteal, who received the Award for Emerging Australian Filmmaker at the 2015 Melbourne International Film Festival and whose previous shorts screened around the world.
Easteal appears in the film alongside Andrew, his real life colleague, as well as author Christos Tsiolkas and iconic former ABC presenter Jon Faine who feature in the film via the car radio, the film’s connection to the outside world.
The Plains is now available to watch on MUBI: https://mubi.com/films/the-plains
