The Snowtown Murders

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  • Opened March 2, 2012 (NY)
  • 2 hr 0 min
  • NR
  • Elizabeth Harvey (Louise Harris) is raising her three boys in Adelaide's poor northern suburbs. After her latest boyfriend displays pedophilic tendencies she takes up with a new man, hoping for security but instead winds up welcoming an even more vicious predator into her home. John Bunting (Daniel Henshall) is the moral compass among a circle of friends who hold self-appointed neighborhood watch meetings at the kitchen table. Fueled by cigarettes and beer they cast judgments on those living around them. Bunting enlists his crew in acts of sadistic vigilantism on those he considers deviants takes Elizabeth's son Jamie (Lucas Pittaway) under his wing. In a mix of misdirected hero worship and terror, Jamie becomes an accomplice to a spree of torture and murder. Full synopsis

  • Cast: Lucas Pittaway, Daniel Henshall, Louise Harris, Craig Coyne, Richard Green
  • Director: Justin Kurzel
  • Genres: Art House/Foreign, Drama, Suspense/Thriller

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66 out of 100
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Critic Reviews

90
The New York Times
| Jeannette Catsoulis

The Snowtown Murders reminds us that sometimes evil is immediately recognizable, but at other times it comes bearing bacon and beer. Read full review

88
Chicago Sun-Times
| Roger Ebert

The film is a chilling study of an evil, dominant personality and his victims. It works primarily through an astonishingly good performance by Daniel Henshall as Bunting. Read full review

80
Empire
| Kim Newman

Terrific performances, especially from the menacing, lazily charismatic Henshall, and debut director Kurzel's expressionist storytelling make for an Aussie film well worth hunting down. A tough but seriously rewarding watch. Read full review

80
Salon.com
| Andrew O'Hehir

An impressive but exceptionally disturbing feature debut from Australian director Justin Kurzel that pushes the new wave of Aussie crime films up a notch. Read full review

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Lucas Pittaway as Jamie Vlassakis and Daniel Henshall as John Bunting in ``Snowtown.''