The Snowtown Murders (2011)

Let me get the adjectives out of the way: startling, raw, mesmerizing, disturbing, unforgettable. The Snowtown Murders, a first-time film from Australian director Justin Kurzel (in their insatiable hunger for young directors to helm their franchises, Hollywood has snatched him up to direct next year’s Assassin’s Creed), tells the story of one of the continent’s most notorious and brutal murder sprees. Kurzel does not shy away from the gruesome nature of these crimes, many of which were perpetrated against suspected pedophiles in an economically depressed suburb. The Snowtown Murders is so gut-wrenching and unsettling in its depiction of both unspeakable inhumanity and quotidian misery that I can’t imagine I’ll ever be able to re-watch it, but it’s also directed with breathtaking visual style, intelligence, and genuine empathy. Daniel Henshall is legitimately horrifying as John Bunting, orchestrator of the murders and one of the most heinous father figures in cinematic history, and Lucas Pittaway is excellent as the confused and abused young man caught under his spell. A real stunner.