The Dry
Kids say
Based on 1 review
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The Dry
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A Lot or a Little?
The parents' guide to what's in this movie.
What Parents Need to Know
Parents need to know that The Dry is an Australian crime drama based on a novel by Jane Harper. It follows a police officer with a past (Eric Bana) who's investigating a potential murder-suicide in his hometown during a drought. Violence includes a gory crime scene (with dead bodies and blood), characters getting shot, a dead girl's body being pulled from a creek, a person attempting to light himself on fire, dead animals and animals getting shot, fighting and punching, and more. Language is also strong, with several uses of "f--k," "s--t," and other words. People kiss, and there's the suggestion of a secret, possibly taboo, romance. Characters drink beer and wine in bars, at dinner, and in other social settings. The plot is thick, and the movie is a little stiff and slow, but it's still solid and smart.
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What's the Story?
In THE DRY, Australian Federal Police officer Aaron Falk (Eric Bana) gets word that he must return home to his drought-ridden small town of Kiewarra for a funeral: Aaron's childhood friend, Luke, Luke's wife, and their child are the victims of a potential murder-suicide. Aaron himself is quite unpopular in Kiewarra due to his tentative connection with the drowning of a young woman decades earlier. He reconnects with another friend, Gretchen (Genevieve O'Reilly), and meets with Luke's parents (Bruce Spence and Julia Blake), who are convinced that Luke couldn't have done such a horrible thing. They plead with Aaron to stick around and look further into the case, which they think involves the family farm. He joins forces with local cop Greg Raco (Keir O'Donnell) and starts looking into the mystery, which begins to take some very unexpected turns.
Is It Any Good?
Perhaps hampered by the task of adapting Jane Harper's source novel, this languid crime drama isn't as taut or dynamic as it might have been, but it's still a well-acted, vivid piece of storytelling. Directed by Robert Connolly, The Dry relies heavily on character history to help thicken its story, but the frequent flashbacks to earlier days -- with younger actors playing some of the characters -- can be confusing; it takes a while to establish who's supposed to be who. Once in the present, however, the movie is allowed to wander into interesting gray areas.
As Falk, Bana doesn't get to show much emotion -- his character has to be on guard -- but he manages a neatly nuanced performance as a man carrying pain and guilt and operating out of obligation and a vain hope at redemption. Especially interesting is the relationship between Falk and Raco, which evolves as each man learns more about the other. The same occurs with Gretchen; what might have been a tacked-on romance turns into more character substance. Not much is done with the movie's drought theme, other than a shot of Falk being perturbed at not being able to take a shower, but the murder mystery and the movie's conclusion are better than average, making The Dry a quenching experience.
Talk to Your Kids About ...
Families can talk about The Dry's violence. How much is shown? How much is threatened? What impact did it have?
A character says, "when you've been lying about something so long, it becomes second nature." What does this mean? Can lying be more difficult to maintain than the truth?
How do the people of Kiewarra treat Aaron? How can so many people form an opinion of someone without knowing the facts?
How does the drought figure into the story? What does the movie have to say about the issue of climate change?
Movie Details
- In theaters: May 21, 2021
- On DVD or streaming: January 18, 2022
- Cast: Eric Bana, Genevieve O'Reilly, Keir O'Donnell
- Director: Robert Connolly
- Studio: IFC Films
- Genre: Drama
- Topics: Book Characters
- Run time: 117 minutes
- MPAA rating: R
- MPAA explanation: violence, and language throughout
- Last updated: March 31, 2022
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