The Rover (2014)

Directed by David Michôd. Starring Guy Pearce, Robert Pattinson, Anthony Hayes, Susan Prior, Scoot McNairy, David Field, Gillian Jones, Tawanda Manyimo. [R]

Unremittingly bleak film set in a deteriorating near-future version of the Australian outback that faintly resembles the world of the first Mad Max picture. Pearce plays a persistent and murderous loner who forces a wounded, mentally-challenged criminal (Pattinson) to track down Pearce’s car after Pattinson’s brother and his cronies stole it. Resembles Ozploitation in texture and hard-hitting violence, but this arid allegory is more preoccupied with mood and manner, a flood of pain and rage guiding its enigmatic combatant (certainly not a traditional hero, since he won’t hesitate to kill, whether or not it’s deserved). Pattinson’s squirming ADHD work is a peculiar complement to Pearce’s volatile ferocity, and the filmmakers wisely never try to sentimentalize them even as they slowly develop a brittle, unspoken bond. Natasha Braier’s desolate photography of the scorched, ashen earth is amplified by Antony Partos’ dissonant and quietly agitated musical accompaniment. Screenplay by director and co-producer Michôd. Joel Edgerton gets co-story credit; his brother, Nash, has a small role.

71/100