🔴 Condition - Very Good 🔴

On his return home after a year in jail, Brett Sprague (David Wenham), one of three brothers, discovers things have changed and his insecurities build. Brett's girlfriend, Michelle (Toni Collette) resents the way Brett has changed. His brothers, Glenn (John Polson) and Stevie (Anthony Hayes) are restless and boozing; Stevie's pregnant girlfriend (Anna Lise) is a nusiance, hanging around. Chaos reigns in the Sprague home as their mother, Sandra (Lynette Curran), makes a stand against her sons' behaviour. George (Pete Smith), Sandra's current lover, steps between Sandra and Brett at the height of a drunken rage and is flattened by Brett. Sandra orders her sons out of the house. Rejected by their respective girlfriends and their mother, the Sprague boys are united in a futile rage against the lot of them. Brett leads his brothers off into the night. Wound through the story is the aftermath of that night in the form of flash- forwards.
The Film Is Based On The 1986 Rape And Murder Of Nurse Anita Cobby By 4 Men (Including 3 Brothers).
It's been a long time since an Australian film has emerged with as much power and energy as this remarkable work by director Rowan Woods. Taking the stage play, Woods has opened it up to create a true cinematic piece, one where cameras move about frenetically to create the image of a character on the edge. The Boys is a masterful study of family loyalty taken to the extremes, and the connection, and sometimes lack thereof, that exists between mother and son. Though the film focuses on a horrific crime, Woods never takes us there directly, nor falls into the trap of showing us any major violence. Yet, the film is a chilling portrait of a man on the verge of his own self-destruction, and the film's power lies in its ability to take us inside a complex and unnerving human creation. David Wenham created Brett on the stage, and on film, he's truly extraordinary. Not since Russell Crowe's performance in Romper Stomper, has an Australian actor emerged on the scene with as much intellect, precision, emotional force and sheer complexity as Wenham. He's made this character his own, and the result is the most intricate and mind-blowing screen performance in years. Others in the cast are just as formidable, especially Lynette Curran (also in the play), who gives strength and vulnerability to the complex mother. Toni Collette is also strong as Brett's girlfriend, though it's a performance we've often seen before. Skilfully directed, superbly and evocatively shot, brilliantly edited, The Boys is a tough film, but a rewarding one. Compelling and disturbing, with this movie, Australian cinema has produced one of its most exciting and original offspring seen in the last years. This is certainly a film not to be missed.