''Cactus'' is a 2008 Australian

mystery Mystery, The Mystery, Mysteries or The Mysteries may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Fictional characters *Mystery, a cat character in ''Emily the Strange'' Films * ''Mystery'' (2012 film), a 2012 Chinese drama film * ''Mystery'' ( ...

thriller film Thriller film, also known as suspense film or suspense thriller, is a broad film genre that evokes excitement and suspense in the audience. The suspense element found in most films' plots is particularly exploited by the filmmaker in this genre ...

, it is the directing debut for Jasmine Yuen-Carrucan.

Synopsis

''Cactus'' is a road movie centred on a kidnapping.

Plot

The movie begins with John Kelly pulling Eli Jones (David Lyons) from his city residence, drugging him and driving across regional Australia for three days. On the journey, John and Eli begin to interact and talk, as well as having a run-in with a rogue cop and encountering "Thommo", a trucker.

Cast

Travis McMahon Travis may refer to: People and fictional characters *Travis (given name), a list of people and fictional characters *Travis (surname), a list of people Places in the United States *Travis, Staten Island, a neighborhood *Travis Air Force Base, a ...

as John Kelly * David Lyons as Eli Jones * Bryan Brown as Rosco (the 'outback Cop') * Shane Jacobson as Thommo * Zoe Tuckwell-Smith as Sammy *

Daniel Krige Daniel Krige (born 16 July 1970) is a writer, director and actor. Born in Cape Town, South Africa, he grew up in Australia. Krige began working as a writer at the age of sixteen for Grundy Television. History He attended the Australian Film T ...

as Mal *

Celia Ireland Celia Ireland (born 16 May 1966) is an Australian actress. She is best known for her role as Regina Butcher on the television series '' All Saints'' and her Logie award winning role as Liz Birdsworth on the prison drama series ''Wentworth''. E ...

as Vesna * Seymon Eckert as Katie * John Martin as Petrol Attendant * Steve Rodgers as Spuddo (voice) * Wayne Walker as Ute Driver * Cheyenne as Charlie Sparkles * Craig Bartlett as Radio Operator * Robert Whiteside as Bar Patron * Russell Hunt as Bar Patron * Robert Shearim as Bar Patron * Elspeth Baird as Gardening woman

Production

The directing debut of Jasmine Yuen Carrucan was shot in

New South Wales ) , nickname = , image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , es ...

in the cities of Bathurst,

Broken Hill Broken Hill is an inland mining city in the far west of outback New South Wales, Australia. It is near the border with South Australia on the crossing of the Barrier Highway (A32) and the Silver City Highway (B79), in the Barrier Range. It is ...

, Cobar, Sydney and Wilcannia. Bryan Brown worked on it as executive producer.

Style

The film uses many of the classic road movie motifs such as break downs, fuel stops and long stretches of empty road, with a

cinematography Cinematography (from ancient Greek κίνημα, ''kìnema'' "movement" and γράφειν, ''gràphein'' "to write") is the art of motion picture (and more recently, electronic video camera) photography. Cinematographers use a lens to focu ...

that is conventionally modern.

Release

The film premiered on 1 May 2008 in Australia. It was part of the Brooklyn International Film Festival in June 2008 and the Munich Film Festival on 28 June 2008.

Cultural references

* Ford vs

Holden Holden, formerly known as General Motors-Holden, was an Australian subsidiary company of General Motors. It was an Australian automobile manufacturer, importer, and exporter which sold cars under its own marque in Australia. In its last thre ...

rivalry

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Cactus (2008 Film) 2008 films 2008 psychological thriller films Australian road movies 2000s road movies Films set in Australia Films shot in Australia Films scored by Nerida Tyson-Chew Australian mystery thriller films 2008 directorial debut films 2000s English-language films