by Erin Free
Worth: $17.50
FilmInk rates movies out of $20 — the score indicates the amount we believe a ticket to the movie to be worth
Cast:
Josephine Starte, Luke Jacobz, Annelise Hall, Ben Gerrard, Nicola Frew, David Quirk, Robert Preston, Sapphire Blossom
Intro:
...a low-key but keenly intelligent winner.
The new Australian ensemble drama Moonrise Over Knights Hill is that rare film that literally gets better with every progressive minute of its running time. While its kick-off feels a little forced and its dialogue slightly stilted – the film introduces the audience to its varied cast of characters with a bit too much obviousness: here’s the smug arsehole; here’s the nice girl; here’s the yob; here’s the misanthropic smartarse – Moonrise Over Knights Hill very quickly gets into its own complex set of rhythms, and after a set-up that actually feels akin to a horror film (moody music plays as an attractive young cast is isolated in the middle of nowhere), the film settles into itself very nicely indeed. Inventively written with a slight bent for the salacious, classily performed by a strong cast of relative unknowns, and stylishly shot, Moonrise Over Knights Hill is a relentless dig both into male-female relationships in general, and also into its well-drawn collection of characters.
Three twenty-to-thirtysomething hetero Aussie couples – united by the three women of the group, who went to school together – arrive in a luxury estate in New South Wales wine country to celebrate multiple birthdays. Angie (Josephine Starte) is a sweet-natured aspiring doco filmmaker; her husband Lars (Luke Jacobz) is a knockaround, essentially good-natured fin-services type; bubbly, pretentious Isabel (Annelise Hall) has some nebulous-sounding job with the ABC (!); her partner Mark (Ben Gerrard) is an arrogant, superior douchebag; and Clare (Nicola Frew) is a too-cool hipster paired up with sarcastic, wisecracking cultural snob Jim (David Quirk). Rounding out this disparate group from the outside is “experience curator” Felix (Robert Preston), whose pleasant exterior belies a difficult relationship with his employers, and an even more difficult one with his volatile, dissatisfied partner, Sapphire (Sapphire Blossom).
Though they all chat and giggle happily, the fractures in the relationships of these characters – both between partners and the group at large – very soon become clear. Pithy little comments open up emotional fissures, a glance here and there drive accusations and the potential for infidelity, and the growing verbal violence between Felix and Sapphire hints at possible danger for the upwardly mobile group of friends.
Talented writer/director James Robert Woods (making his feature debut here after a series of shorts) handles all of this complexity with aplomb, and also great swathes of humour. He also suggests himself as something of an iconoclast, with characters taking amusingly hearty swipes at the Australian film and TV industries, and one even claiming that he fell asleep during The Dry. Woods is also intriguingly loose when it comes to his characters’ sex lives; in one surprisingly memorable scene, arsehole Mark goes at his wife Isabel while looking at photos of another woman in the group on his phone…with said wife’s gleeful permission and assistance. “You promised me beach pics,” he yelps in disappointment at one point.
While the performances are uniformly strong, TV regular Luke Jacobz and Robert Preston deserve to be singled out for their efforts, comedically for the former and with burning intensity for the latter. James Robert Woods’ screenplay pulses with energy and insight, and Moonrise Over Knights Hill ultimately stands as a low-key but keenly intelligent winner.
Moonrise Over Knights Hill screens as the closing night film of the Inner West Film Fest on 17 April 2025. Click here for all ticketing and venue details.
