Modern Love (2006)

JOHN, his wife EMILY, and their small son EDWARD leave the city for what they believe will be a brief foray to the countryside to claim John's inheritance - a small shack. They find ... See full summary »

Director:

Alex Frayne

Writer:

Nick Matthews

Stars:

Mark Constable, Victoria Hill, Will Traeger

Cast

Credited cast:
Mark Constable	...	John
Victoria Hill	...	Emily
Will Traeger	...	Edward
Damian Woodards	...	Barman

Storyline

JOHN, his wife EMILY, and their small son EDWARD leave the city for what they believe will be a brief foray to the countryside to claim John's inheritance - a small shack. They find themselves in a strange back-woods rural setting. Nothing is what it seems, and JOHN's behavior becomes increasingly bizarre as he crosses paths with the unusual inhabitants of the area, some of whom he knows from a distant past. As his connections to the area are gradually revealed, we are shown a puzzle and a tapestry of our hero and his life before he moved away. To his wife's horror we witness a man who belongs to a long lineage of disaster and mishap and rural weirdness. As the realization sets in of what has happened, the specter of the next-in-line, his son EDWARD, becomes spookily evident.

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Plot Keywords:

inheritance | countryside | rural setting | lake | suicide | 

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Taglines:

Happy happy, joy, joy, until someone gets hurt....

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Genres:

Horror | Mystery

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Details

Country:

Australia

Language:

English

Release Date:

1 February 2006 (Australia)

Filming Locations:

Lake Alexandrina, South Australia, Australia

Company Credits

Production Co:

Sputnik Films

Technical Specs

Runtime:

110 min

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Director spotted young actor William Traeger at a community quiz night. He sung a tune from theater production of "Oliver" in which he was performing at the time.

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Quotes

John: He just wears a hat... and wanders around

User Reviews

Slow, hypnotic.....and brilliant

The most vivid portrait of small-town oddity I've seen in a long time -and I'm not just talking about Australian films. This piece of work seems to have been made "under the radar" and really, it's an entirely fascinating piece of work, that has a worldliness mostly unseen in recent Aust. film making.

At times it is rather slow and strange - it seems to meander hither and thither not really sure if it's a thriller or a 'head-movie'. But the stunning aspect of the film by Alex Frayne is its iron fisted, ruthless direction. It never wavers, it is highly controlled, precise and absolutely self-assured. The cinematography is some of the most artful, beautiful and lyrical I've seen. The sound is all psychological, the music builds the tension.

By the third act, the story is ramped up and episodes collide and converge - don't attempt to piece together the puzzle of the last 20 minutes, it's a bit of an impost - but by that time the film has you a bit of a trance, a sort of hypnosis, and you've been sold a riddle - that has no real answer.