Crime Down Under

At night and behind closed doors—that’s where murder feels familiar. But murder in broad daylight, in the drought-stricken hinterlands of Australia, carries its own bleak horror.

That’s where we find The Dry, a beautiful, slow-burning Australian crime drama that will appeal to murder mystery aficionados. Sun is everywhere and unrelenting, as is the flow of alcohol and R-rated foul language in the mouths of the farmers reeling from barren fields and bankruptcy.

Federal police officer Aaron Falk (Eric Bana), the local boy who made good in the big city, has returned to his impoverished childhood home in fictional Kiewarra. He’s there to attend the tragic funeral of his childhood friend, Luke, who seemingly shot his wife and school-age son in a murder-suicide.

Luke’s mother, though, is skeptical her son would do such a thing, and she convinces Aaron to look into what would otherwise be an open-and-shut case. But not every policeman has honor in his hometown: Through frequent flashbacks we learn Aaron and Luke were implicated in another suspicious death decades ago—and the locals haven’t forgotten.

Except for the language and bloody crime scenes in this thriller, available on Amazon Prime, every scene has a haunting elegance that keeps you watching. The flashbacks show how verdant and idyllic life in Kiewarra had been before drought and death. Contrast that with the strained faces of the traumatized and tight-lipped locals, and it’s clear crops aren’t the only things dying and drying out in this town.

Near the film’s conclusion, Falk and a local policeman jeopardize their lives in an act that saves the town but comes with a cost. It’s a helpful lesson, and not just for Australians: How much would you risk to keep your community alive?