Film
Blackfellas
A 1993 Australian drama following a young Aboriginal man caught between the pull of his best friend's criminality and the possibility of redemption through family and country. It's a quietly urgent film about the weight of cycles, the cost of loyalty, and whether escape is possible when your entire world is arranged to keep you trapped.
Should you watch it?
Watch it if you want a slow, observant portrait of a young man caught between the pull of old friendships and the weight of family history, told without melodrama.
Skip it if you need fast plotting or a clear arc, since this drifts loosely through days of idleness and its wandering rhythm can feel aimless.
What it asks of you: Ninety-five minutes of patient, unhurried watching, with long quiet stretches and a steady, watchful tone that asks you to sit with discomfort rather than be carried along.
Not sure? Find tonight's pick in a minute.
If you liked this
Muriel's Wedding1994
Australian cinema at its warmest and sharpest. A story about breaking free from a suffocating environment and the people who anchor you—some for good, some for harm. Funny and genuinely moving.
But It's a comedy-drama about a woman trying to escape her small town through marriage. If you want pure social realism, the tonal shifts might feel slight.
The Chant of Jimmie Blacksmith1978
A searing film about an Aboriginal man ground down by racism and systemic cruelty until violence becomes inevitable. Raw, historically grounded, and essential viewing on Australian identity and injustice.
But It's bleak and brutal. The violence isn't cathartic or redemptive—it's the logical endpoint of systematic dehumanization. Not an easy watch.
Once Were Warriors1994
A Māori family drama with the same urgent gravity—poverty, addiction, masculinity, and domestic violence examined with unflinching clarity and genuine love for its characters. Devastating and vital.
But The domestic violence is graphic and central. It's not a film that offers comfort or resolution, only understanding and heartbreak.
Not sure tonight? Get a pick in a minute, starting from Blackfellas
The wildcard
Something you would not have found on your own.
Lantana2001
Both films are about men trapped by circumstance and their own choices, unable to articulate their way out. The difference is that Lantana shows what that silence looks like from the outside—the collateral damage to everyone nearby.
A mystery-thriller where a woman goes missing and suspicion spreads through a suburban community. Instead of solving the case, it dissolves into the private betrayals and silences of six interconnected lives. It's about what we don't say and how that silence can kill.
But The narrative structure is fragmented and non-linear. If you're looking for a traditional mystery with resolution, you'll feel cheated. It's also very interior—long scenes of people not speaking.
More like this (8)
Australian Rules2002
Two boys—one Aboriginal, one white—become best friends through football. A film about friendship, belonging, and the casual racism that corrodes everything. Gentle but firm in what it's saying.
But It builds slowly and asks patience. The conflict is internal and social rather than dramatic, which some might find underpowered.
The Proposition2005
A brutal Australian western about crime, loyalty, law, and the question of whether redemption is even possible. Every frame looks like violence is about to happen. Stunning and uncompromising.
But It's extremely violent and set in a landscape of moral ambiguity where nobody wins. If you need a clear moral framework, this will frustrate you.
Romper Stomper1992
An unflinching look at white supremacist skinheads in Melbourne. Doesn't explain or excuse, just observes how young, damaged men find community in hate. Confronting and masterfully made.
But It's ugly and uncomfortable by design. The racism isn't contextualized for your comfort. Some find it gratuitous rather than necessary.
Walkabout1971
Two lost children and an Aboriginal boy in the Australian desert. A film about connection across cultural divides, survival, and what we lose when we abandon the land. Visually hypnotic.
But It's slow, dreamlike, and the narrative is minimal. Modern audiences sometimes find it more interested in landscape than character momentum.
The Red Violin1998
A violin travels across continents and centuries. Each segment is a complete story about ownership, theft, passion, and loss. Structurally inventive and deeply moving.
But It's an ensemble piece without a protagonist, which can feel frustratingly scattered. The frame story is weaker than the chapters it connects.
The Nightingale2018
An Aboriginal woman seeks revenge for brutality in colonial Tasmania. A western structured around a female protagonist. Raw, angry, and absolutely committed to its vision of historical trauma and survival.
But The violence is graphically sexual. It's a film that asks whether revenge is justice, and doesn't offer the catharsis some seek from that question.
The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford2007
Both are about the impossibility of escape and the weight of masculine admiration—the way we attach ourselves to people who are bad for us and can't break free. Floyd and Doug mirror Jesse and Robert, just from the opposite direction.
A western about idolatry, betrayal, and a man (Robert Ford) consumed by envy of his outlaw hero (Jesse James). It's shot like a fever dream and structured around the question of whether revenge can ever satisfy the person seeking it.
But It's slow, meditative, and its violence is aftermath rather than spectacle. Some find it glacial. It's also quite long and doesn't build in conventional ways.
Moonlight2016
Both films understand that male friendship and intimacy are often the only source of tenderness available in worlds that don't make space for it. Both watch how that bond can be sustaining and also deeply limiting, and neither asks the men to choose between love and survival.
Three chapters of a Black man's life—as a boy, a teenager, an adult—each shot in a distinct visual register. It's about desire, vulnerability, masculinity, and the armor we build. Shot in silence and color. Profound and intimate.
But It's extremely quiet and moves through feeling rather than plot. If you need narrative momentum or explicit explanation, you'll find it frustratingly oblique. Some scenes feel like watching someone's private memory.
People
Cast
John MooreDoug Dooligan
David Ngoombujarra'Pretty Boy' Floyd- Jaylene RileyPolly
- Lisa KinchelaValerie
John HargreavesDetective Maxwell
Ernie DingoPercy- Julie HudspethMrs. Dooligan
Jack CharlesCarey- Michael WatsonHughie
Kelton PellWillice- Steven TurnerOpposition Team Player
Directing
- James RicketsonDirector
Writing
- Archie WellerWriter
- James RicketsonWriter
Production
- Paul D. BarronExecutive Producer
- Penny ChapmanExecutive Producer
- David RapseyProducer