Tagline: Some things can’t be buried.
Rollcall: David Roberts, Claire Van Der Boom, Joel Edgerton, Anthony Hayes, Peter Phelps, Brendan Donoghue.
Running time: 1hour 56minutes.

What’s it all about, then? Raymond (Roberts) and Carla (Van Der Boom) are in love, and can’t keep their hands off each other. Problem is, they’re both married to other people. When Carla discovers a bag of cash her husband has hidden in the roof, she and Ray devise a simple, yet devious plan – steal the money, then hire an arsonist to set the house alight. Hubbie will think the cash went up with the flames, and Carla and Ray can scadadle and start a new life together.

The heist, of course, goes hideously awry. But that’s only the start of their problems – somebody knows their secret, and wants a pretty payment to keep their mouth shut.

This is the feature debut from both the Edgerton boys – Nash as director and Joel as writer and co-star. It’s an intense drama, with a large dose of black comedy on the side. There are plenty of quirks which are typical of their wry humour – a troop of firemen dressing up as Santa Clauses, and a doggie romance with an unexpected ending.

The question of how far people are willing to go for love is examined as Ray makes a bad decision, setting off a nasty chain of increasingly unfortunate circumstances followed by increasingly worse decisions. It’s not a perfect film, with some of the plot points falling into play too easily – but, then again, perhaps that’s just the nature of karma and bad luck.

Why it’s worth your time: The Square is a tense, captivating film, with great acting and plenty of surprises to keep you squirming in your seat. One of the best Aussie crime dramas in recent years.
 

By Jenni Dawes