Director
Robert Connolly
(THE DRY)

Starring
Eric Bana, Anna Torv, Deborra-Lee Furness and Jacqueline McKenzie

The follow up to 2020’s acclaimed crime mystery The Dry has been highly anticipated long before its original release date in August 2023 was pushed back due to Eric Bana’s support of the SAG-AFTRA strike. That push back only fueled the excitement further, however after seeing Force of Nature: The Dry 2 I can’t help but wonder if it was simply an attempt to postpone the bombing of this dull mess. Force of Nature has no links to the storyline of its predecessor, other than it being another mystery for AFP Detective Aaron Falk (Eric Bana) to solve. This time the mystery involves the disappearance of an AFP informant, Alice (played by Cate Blanchett from Wish…aka Anna Torv), whilst on a work retreat with a group of her colleagues in the Victorian mountain ranges. The mystery revolves around whether Alice is still alive, and if she isn’t, who had the motive to bump her off? Semi-spoiler alert, Alice is a very unlikeable person, so the answer is ‘basically everyone in the film’. That unlikability of one of the films most crucial characters is one of the many elements that let Force of Nature down. Ultimately I don’t care if Alice is alive or not, and if she isn’t, I don’t really care who did it.

It’s not the only thing that lets this movie down though. Am I alone in the fact that I am SO DAMN BORED with this obsession with the ‘Australian/Bush/Outback Noir’ genre that seems to permeate nearly every new Australian film or limited series in the past 5+ years? These dull, silent, atmospheric beasts that meander on without really saying anything…to a literal extent. So many pensive looks from actors who are incapable of any meaningful dialogue. A bit like how Anna Torv is the less charismatic knock-off version of Cate Blanchett, this genre of filmmaking is a direct rip of Nordic Noir without any of the substance or character. Aside from the styling, there also just doesn’t seem to be the star power to really fuel any excitement. Eric Bana appears to be going through the motions, and Richard Roxburgh is under utilized as a villain of sorts as Alice’s corrupt boss that she had been informing on. I also wanted more from and for Deborra-Lee Furness, the actress who has been so cruelly maligned throughout her career for simply being older and less attractive than her famous (now-ex) husband. She did a solid job here, but the under development of the story didn’t really give her adequate opportunity to shine. The story itself is all over the place, in addition to the search for Alice, we also have flashbacks to Falk’s childhood and a time when his mother went missing in the same area whilst an active serial killer (seemingly based on Ivan Milat) was hunting in those mountains. The sub story ultimately leads nowhere and provides nothing but to highlight how underdeveloped the key ‘mystery’ really is.

It’s a real shame how abysmal this film feels in comparison to The Dry. Given author Jane Harper has a third and final novel based on the Aaron Falk character, there was a real opportunity to make this a perfect three-piece franchise, however this instalment surely won’t lead anyone to wanting for more.

Force of Nature: The Dry 2 is in cinemas now.