Mystery Road

The wide open glory of the outback settings may give this brooding Australian thriller the feel of an Ocker western, but its depiction of the plight of remote Aboriginal communities means it is very much rooted in the present day. The all-star Aussie cast is headed by Aaron Pedersen, who plays an indigenous detective just returned to the small Queensland town where he grew up and whose investigation into the murder of a teenage Aboriginal girl causes waves in a redneck community divided by race. Hugo Weaving, all laconic menace, is the narcotics cop Pedersen believes knows more about the murder than he is telling, while other familiar Australian faces include True Blood's Ryan Kwanten, Jack Thompson, Zoe Carides and David Field. Although the mystery at the centre of Mystery Road is a little undercooked, writer/director Ivan Sen makes some telling points about the despair and poverty of these ghetto-like indigenous communities.