Mystery Road (2013) Outback Noir

Down Under. 

Oueensland. The Outback, The eastern edge of the Lake Eyre basin. 463,323 square miles of either desert or in our story savanna grasslands. Dusk. The Landsborough Highway. Just outside of Winton. At a dry wash called Massacre Creek a "road train" pulls off the side of the road. The truckie hops out for a stretch and to check his tires. 

He pulls out a flashlight and a tire iron and checks his rubber. At the rear of the back trailer he hears something rustling below in the wash. He goes down and investigates shining the light into each of the series of concrete box culverts. 

He finds the decaying body of a teenage Aboriginal girl. Her throat looks cut.

Aboriginal Detective Jay Swan is called in to investigate. The girl was a druggie, had sex with truckies for money. Her friend Tarni Williams refuses to talk. A young Aboriginal boy gives Jay Julies phone that he found in the road near her house. Jay checking through her texts finds messages to and from his own daughter Crystal. He visits his ex wife Mary and Crystal. 

Jay continues his investigations connecting the dots to a possible drug lab, a white hunting truck, and two of his fellow policemen Johnno and Robbo. Later Jay finds out that Johnno is working undercover for his Sargent. Further discoveries include a regular at the Dusk Til Dawn motel who drives a similar white hunting truck, who stayed there the night Julie was killed, and from the wife of a recently slain officer who tells Jay that he was called out to work by another unknown officer. 

From Johnno Jay learns that the whole case hinges on something that is missing. When Jay finds out what it is he arranges a rendezvous on Mystery Road in Noirsville.

Noirsville 

Written, Directed, Filmed and Edited by Ivan Sen. Music was also by Ivan Sen. The film stars  Aaron Pedersen as Detective Jay Swan, Hugo Weaving as Johnno, Ryan Kwanten as Pete Bailey/William Smith, Tony Barry as Sarge, Damian Walshe-Howling as Wayne Silverman, Tasma Walton as Mary Swan, Tricia Whitton as Crystal Swan, Jay's teenage daughter, Robert Mammone as Robbo, Bruce Spence as Jim, the local undertaker, David Field as Sam Bailey, Jack Thompson as Charlie Murray, Samara Weaving as Peggy Rogers, Roy Billing as Robbo, Weapon Shop Owner, Zoe Carides as Motel Owner, and Jack Charles as Jay's uncle, "Old Boy."

The film is immersive right from the get go. All the performances are believable. But being an American WTF do I know, maybe an Australian would feel different. You get a bit of a No Country For Old Men vibe and another of the American West. In a way its similar to The Proposition familiar and yet a bit off. 

That most of the creativity was the work of Ivan Sen is amazing. 8/10 Screen caps from an Amazon Prime streamer.