LAFF 2023: The Boys

THE BOYS 

(1998 / Rowan Woods / Australia / 85 minutes / Drama / BBFC: 18)

25TH ANNIVERSARY SCREENING

+ MUD CRAB (2022 / David Robinson-Smith / Australia / 13 minutes / Drama)

[AFTRS Short Film]

Director: Rowan Woods

Writer: Stephen Sewell (based on a play by Gordon Graham)

Producers: Robert Connolly, John Maynard 

Cast: David Wenham, Toni Collette, Lynette Curran, John Polson, Anthony Hayes

Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZfWAr3Jg_UY 

The London Australian Film Festival marks the 25th anniversary of THE BOYS, a powerfully tense examination of suburban masculinity rarely seen on UK screens since its original release in 1998.

Out on parole after serving a sentence for assault, the malevolent Brett Sprague (David Wenham) returns to his family home, and his mother (Lynette Curran), two brothers (John Polson and Anthony Hayes) and estranged girlfriend (Toni Collette). As Brett strives to reassert his violent dominance over those around him, a barely contained malice soon turns to violence, and ultimately leads to an ominous conclusion that still feels frighteningly relevant to contemporary Australia.

This searing adaptation of Gordon Graham's notoriously successful play, itself inspired by the infamous 1986 murder of Anita Cobby, is shot, directed and performed with startling precision. The result is perhaps the most ruthless exposé of suburban misogyny in all Australian cinema. 

As part of the AFTRS x LAFS dual 50th celebration, Kate Vinen’s 2021 AFTRS short, ACTS FOR THE INVISIBLE, a documentary centred on fashion designer Alistair Trung, will play before THE BOYS.

Australian snacks and sweets will be on sale, and a raffle will be held before the screening.

"A chilling, corrosive depiction of the banality of evil…boasting extraordinary performances" - Variety 

"an almost unbearably tense depiction of the events leading up to a crime" - SBS Movies 

Stephen (LAFF Co-Programmer): “Anchored around David Wenham’s most menacing performance, THE BOYS is horrifyingly naturalistic, and almost unbearably tense. One the finest cinematic examinations of Australian masculinity, and a truly remarkable film that demands to be seen on the big screen!”

With thanks to AX1 and the Australian Film, Television and Radio School.