The Square

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Horrorphile - June 2008

The Square

June 17th 2008 00:55

It follows more along the crooked lines of a modern noir than a horror, but it is most definitely a nightmare movie; it even features a couple of brief, but nerve-jangling actual nightmares for the central character. Sydney-based director Nash Edgerton’s debut feature, The Square (2008), is a highly accomplished genre-piece that smirks and slaps in all the right places. It’s one of only twelve features in the 55th Sydney Film Festival that are part of its new international competition. The Square ticks all my boxes!

The Square David Roberts and Claire van der Boom

David Roberts as Raymond and Claire van der Boom as Carla

Raymond Yale (David Roberts) is a middle-aged foreman on a construction site. He’s married, but he’s having an affair with his much younger neighbour, Carla Smith (Claire van de Boom), who’s married to criminal Greg. The adultery is adding anxiety to Raymond’s already stressful work load. Carla discovers Greg has stashed a duffle bag full of cash in the ceiling of the laundry, obviously stolen. Carla makes the decision to steal the loot and makes Raymond an ultimatum; they should run away together, but her house needs to burn to the ground in order to hide the theft of the money. Raymond baulks initially, but when Carla breaks off the affair, he realises he’s in too deep, and so the dominos start to fall …

Raymond has things on his mind

The screenplay, co-written between Matthew Dabner and Edgerton, is a corker. It plays with the all the rules of film noir thrillers, but they never feel like clichés. There’s the everyman caught in the middle, there’s the dangerous thug, there’s the femme whose self-interest borders on avarice, there’s the middle man crim who’s a spanner in the works, and his unreliable girlfriend who only makes matters worse, there’s the suspicious colleagues of the everyman. The key elements, which always make these kinds of movies so much fun is the initial betrayal, the plan, the mis-interpretation of information, which results in Murphy’s Law. In fact, Murphy’s Law could’ve worked just as well as a title, if it wasn’t already an over-heated maxim.

The Square Anthony Hayes and Claire van der Boom

Anthony Hayes as Greg Smith and nervous wife Carla

Joel Edgerton as Billy

And most things that can go wrong, go wrong. There’s another adulterous thriller that jumps to mind, the Coen brothers’ Blood Simple, a brilliantly constructed modern noir that’s been in my top ten favourite movies of all time ever since I first saw it back in the mid-80s. The Square is obviously influenced by that movie, perhaps not as hard-boiled, but no less superbly put together. The growing unease and tension that builds as the situation gets more and more out of hand is terrifically handled by director Edgerton, a diversely-talented man who trained initially as a stuntman and actor. The excellent performances from his cast, from the central roles through to the bit-parts, are no doubt due to Edgerton’s skills as a performer and also as editor.

Lisa Bailey as Wendy

Brother Joel Edgerton plays Billy, the hired fixer, whose job it is to torch the Smith house. His anxious girlfriend Wendy (Lisa Bailey), a peripheral character, is actually instrumental to a lot of the subsequent bad blood. Further complications stem from disgruntled construction site mechanic Leonard Long (Brendan Donoghue).

Along with some moments of keenly judged humour, The Square also sports a few well-executed moments of violence that push the movie into horror territory; impalement on industrial equipment, truck wheel crushes foot and ankle, and the proverbial stray bullets. And the grim ending fits perfectly. A noir movie can only finish this way.

Employers must always wash hands before and after work

I’d almost forgotten about Nash Edgerton’s excellent short Spider which screened at last year’s festival, so The Square is a most satisfying progression. Not since The Magician (which curiously Nash Edgerton produced) have I been so unexpectedly entertained by an Aussie movie. I hope this does good business, it deserves to.

I couldn’t access a trailer for The Square, but here’s Nash Edgerton’s excellent short Spider from last year's festival:

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Posted By: Bryn - Category: movie reviews

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Comments

4 Comments. [ Add A Comment ]

Comment by Damo

June 17th 2008 02:54

For the Sake of Argument
My Apologetics

That video made me jump.
Caught me off guard.

Well done.

Comment by David O'Connell

June 17th 2008 05:00

Screen Fanatic

The parellels you draw with Blood Simple have me interested in this one. Good Australian films of this type are too rare. Solo wasn't bad a couple of years ago - for a Project Greenlight film!

Comment by Cibbuano

June 17th 2008 05:20

20/20 Filmsight
Science News
Hunt Famous
Orble Post of the Day
Fat Cult
Techbreak

yeah, sounds interesting... I've been reluctant to see the Australian screenings, assuming that the good films would see a theatrical release here...

Comment by Bryn

June 18th 2008 02:32

Horrorphile

The Square gets a national release next month.

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