Directed by John Hillcoat • 2005 • Australia, United Kingdom
Starring Guy Pearce, Ray Winstone, Emily Watson

Scripted and scored by Nick Cave, this brutal, starkly beautiful tale of revenge and colonial guilt transposes the mythic themes of the American western to the harsh, unforgiving landscapes of the Australian outback. Following a bloody shootout, outlaw Charlie Burns (Guy Pearce) and his younger brother Mikey (Richard Wilson) are apprehended by Captain Stanley (Ray Winstone). Instead of hanging them both, Stanley (Ray Winstone) makes Charlie a deal: he and Mikey may go free if Charlie can track down and kill their older brother Arthur (Danny Huston), a notorious criminal wanted for murder. Accepting this proposition, Charlie sets out on a harrowing journey through violence that turns to horror as the thin facade of colonial “civilization” is stripped away.