Movie Review: 'The Dry' is Potent Arid Mystery

The Dry stars Eric Bana as Aaron Falk, a Federal agent who returns to his small town in Australia following the death of his best friend Luke. The trip home is deeply fraught as in death, Luke is accused of committing murder-sucide. Luke’s wife and young son were murdered on their farm while Luke’s vehicle and body were found miles away in a popular hunting area. Luke’s parents don’t believe the narrative but they have no way of proving what happened.

So, the parents turn to Aaron who has grown up into a well respected federal investigator having recently cracked a major case. This isn’t the only reason that Aaron’s trip home is fraught however as his past in this small town is not a great one. As a teenager, Aaron was suspected in the death of a girl he had a crush on. Ellie (Bebe Bettencourt) was deeply troubled but Aaron loved her and there appeared to be a connection between the two.

Aaron expected to see Ellie the day she disappeared and was later found dead. A note from Aaron to Ellie asking her to meet him at the river was found in her pocket when her body was found in the river. Ellie’s family then made it their mission to run Aaron out of town by harassing his father. Things got bad enough that even Aaron’s father had to ask his son if he’d killed Ellie. Aaron complicated matters by lying about his alibi. Luke, trying to help Aaron, had him lie and say they were together and Aaron agreed out of fear for the fact that he didn’t have an alibi.

Ellie’s family still lives in this small town and with Aaron is back in town, they set their sites on him. Aaron has no jurisdiction regarding Luke’s murder case but luckily his reputation has impressed the local sheriff, Greg Raco (Keir O’Donnell), though he is unaware of Aaron’s history in the town. Together, they will uncover clues and determine whether or not Luke murdered his family before taking his own life.

Lingering on the edge of the story is the one person, outside of Luke’s family, who is happy to see Aaron back in town. Gretchen (Genevieve O’Reilly) was Ellie’s best friend and Luke’s girlfriend back in the day. She and Aaron were close friends throughout their childhood and now as adults, dealing with the shared traumas of the loss of both Ellie and now Luke, they are drawn together more than ever before.

The Dry was adapted for the screen by and directed by Robert Connelly, a veteran of Australian cinema. Connelly employs the classic style of a mystery by introducing a series of smart red herrings, and enough small town dirty secrets for 10 small towns. The setting, referred to as Kiewarra in the script, was actually set in the Wimmera Mallee Region. Wimmera is a place that has struggled through a lengthy drought and the story of The Dry makes tremendous use of the barren, dusty, sweaty setting.

The Dry uses the barren setting to exceptional effect. It plays as if the turmoil of the place is a direct result of the sins of the past, as if the drought were a biblical punishment for all the secrets the town keeps. As dry and barren as the setting is, it’s that forbidding quality, the lack of hope it engenders among those who feel trapped by the land and by the potential it has for bouncing back, all play into this story of secrets, lies and the potential for something better in the future.

Eric Bana is a true movie star in The Dry. Bana effortlessly holds the center of The Dry with his leading man looks and movie star charisma. Scenes between him and Genevieve O’Reilly are as hot as the setting of the movie, and you can’t help but want to see them together. Their secrets however, the lies they share, are as potent as their chemistry and threaten any chance of happiness they might have.

The Dry is a terrific mystery with just the right mix of red herrings and legitimate danger. The sun drenched setting the threat of fire in the distance, the tinderbox of the surrounding forest add yet another forbidding element to the story of The Dry. The place is also caught smack dab in the middle of the changing landscape of Australia, the battle between farmers clinging to their land amid devastating drought and the corporate farming interests swooping in like buzzards to bring an end to an entire way of life.

All of this play into making The Dry a deeply compelling drama and mystery. The Dry opens in theaters and on-demand on Friday, May 21st.