Review: BIRDEATER

A woman joins her husband's buck's night at his invitation. Another of the small party of friends brings his partner. At a house in the bush, the crew settle in for a night of fun and frolic. Well, that's after the weird friend Dylan does his best to weird out Charlie and then anyone else he comes across. As day turns to night, however, everyone's mood gets a little gluggy or brittle and an outburst we are kept from scatters the party to different corners. I say "kept from" as part of this film's approach (from that prologue) is to show us the surface of action or its consequences and explain it later.

The technique keeps the tension at a constant if mild simmer as we a never quite aware of the full relationships between these characters who increasingly show their capability to derail proceedings or themselves. An emerging creepiness begins to weigh almost every line and the pranks and hijinks are by no means over.

This is a story of manipulation that gets worse the more intimate the participants. Some past gripes are alluded to quite clearly but there is a lot of foggy difficulty that these people are living with which only occasionally surfaces and then not always completely. At times this can feel a little too raw and writerly as though a brainwave that produced an action was left unrefined and feels contrived. Mostly, it works, having been established early with Pinteresque dialogue and some committed performances.

There is a musicality to the unfurling of the themes that stretches from the strange compression of the prologue to conversations that only offer fragmented information to more generous revelations. With some major plot moments kept away from our view we are left to guess at them. This is not difficult for the more salient ones that have a direct bearing on the central couple but quite a lot of detail remains unspoken. This can be a tiresome contrivance when handled poorly but it is done skilfully here.

This was miscategorised by MIFF last year as a new Australian horror. It just does not play that way. It is, however, a compelling ensemble essay on the hazards of neediness and the sickening effects of taking advantage. The finale does a lot of explaining with barely a word of dialogue. All that early irritation for the viewer finds reward.