M, 110 minutes
3 Stars
Review by © Jane Freebury
Kangaroos, koalas, echidnas, the occasional goanna. There are cameos from distinctive local fauna that watch on from the fork of a eucalypt or go about their business, indifferent to the messy human concerns of this family drama. On occasion, they hop into the path of a car with the usual results.
Wildlife roadkill is something that Lou (Rebecca Breeds), just returned from West Coast US, has never missed. But now that she is home on a visit, her deep affinity with place is restored, as strong as ever. Former boyfriend, Joel (Ben Roberts), who has never left, says life can’t get any better as he casts his eye across the white sand and perfect break at a Kangaroo Island beach. Who would disagree?
Recently hit hard during the catastrophic bushfires that decimated eastern Australia, Kangaroo Island, the film’s eponymous location, looks simply gorgeous now. With wild coastlines hugging aquamarine bays where dolphins swim, and where catching the perfect five-foot break with an offshore breeze is easy as.
The cinematography with its characteristic beautiful wide shots celebrates the island’s natural beauty, again and again. The eye of the man behind the camera, Ian McCarroll, counts for much of this film’s sensual appeal.
The eye behind the camera counts for much of the film’s sensual appeal
With its pristine white sands and clear sea, the island is a world away from the hustle of Hollywood where former local girl, Lou had been valiantly working on her career. After ten years away with some moderate successes, she turns for home after her boyfriend drops her, and her agent lets her go. Even then, despite the setbacks, she is surprisingly reluctant to leave. Yet after being pulled over by police and getting drunk before departure, Lou somehow manages to board a plane. Her ticket had been purchased by her Dad.
A girl who likes to swig a bottle of beer, Lou is determined and defiant, despite having little to show for all the years abroad. It is a neat fit with the film’s running joke about her lost luggage, luggage that never arrives.
Her father Rory (Erik Thomson) comes to the local airport to meet her. It is clear she is a chip off the old block. Very different from her sister Freya (Adelaide Clemens), who doesn’t wear motherhood with much assurance alongside her glamorous sister. Sis Freya is now married to Lou’s former boyfriend, has two young sons and has become an evangelical Christian.
The intensity of ill-will between the two young women needs fixing, Joel the hunk they have shared needs sorting, and the family patriarch is in need of peace of mind. The mechanisms for resolving the issues won’t at all surprise you in this regulation family drama. I imagine your thoughts may drift to Home and Away and other mainstream family television melodrama for which this country has become famous.
A wild island sanctuary setting more engaging than the family dynamics
As a film financed by the South Australian Film Corporation, Kangaroo Island has strong local connections. It is a pleasant surprise to see the actor Nicholas Hope (who was, of course, the inimitable Bad Boy Buddy) make a brief, subdued appearance as a medico. The director, Timothy David, who is originally from South Australia and has spent many years working in advertising in New York, and his partner, Sally Gifford, screenwriter of Kangaroo Island, spend time there, themselves.
Kangaroo Island is an accomplished piece from director David, in tune with the rhythms of place in life at the coast. But the characters are not particularly interesting or engaging. And the issue of Rory’s declining health, on which the plot turns, lacks a sense of emotional depth as the family tragedy that it represents.
While the film’s dramatic qualities are not strong and compelling, Kangaroo Island has affinity with place on its wild island sanctuary location. And that is powerful stuff.
First published in the Canberra Times on 23 August 2025. Also published on Rotten Tomatoes