Starring Mark Coles Smith, Joel Nankveris, Sam Delich, Maximilian Jonston, Lee Tiger Halley, Sam Parsonson, Tristan McKinnon, Aswan Reid and Masa Yamaguchi

Written and directed by Kiah Roache-Turner

In the middle of World War 2, an Australian troop transport is sunk, and the survivors struggle to survive on an improvised raft in a fogged and windless sea. Leo (Mark Coles Smith) is the most competent of all of them, and as the only native soldier paid a third of the salary of his white colleagues. Will (Joel Nankveris) is a sweet natured book worm and Des (Sam Delich) is an unpredictable, violent racist.

They and their friends are wounded, out of options and worst of all, not alone…

This is the platonic definition of doing a lot with a little. Roache-Turner’s script lays its central themes (brotherhood in extremis and the different kinds of people who join the army) out from the jump and never stops digging in on them. The wreck, and shark attack, are held until the end of act one and we value the time getting to know these men. They’re all broad but they’re all familiar and the tensions and bonds between them are bolstered by a very strong cast that only gets stronger once the boat sinks. This is a cast made entirely of standouts but Coles Smith’s relentlessly competent, Nankveris’ smart but unworldly Will and the mercurial storm of Delich’s Des take deserved centre stage. These men have some things to work out and they all do, each taking turns being vital to the survival of others even if not their own. You can’t pick a standout here because they’re all great.

Roache-Turner the director is at least as impressive. Salvation is in sight from almost the moment the men are wrecked, and it becomes a numbers game as to when or if they can get there. The small set is used to create constant claustrophobia; the shark is used sparingly but always brutally well and there are moments of offhand violence and brutality that have incredible emotional impact. Every life on the raft matters. Very few of them make it, and Roache-Turner shows us that process and what it costs through lighting and time shifts, locked off cameras and trust in the cast.

Verdict: This is fantastically good. Yes it’s a shark movie but it’s one of the best put together, character-facing horror movies I’ve seen in years. The news Roache-Turner is working on Dogs of War, set (apparently) in the same universe and following a different unit on a more overtly supernatural mission is tremendously exciting because if it’s half this good, it’ll be fantastic. 10/10

Alasdair Stuart

 

Beast of War is on NOWTV now

Dogs of War is in preproduction