''The Moogai'' is a 2024 Australian feature

horror film Horror is a film genre that seeks to elicit fear or disgust in its audience for entertainment purposes. Horror films often explore dark subject matter and may deal with transgressive topics or themes. Broad elements include monsters, apoca ...

based on a

short film A short film is any motion picture that is short enough in running time not to be considered a feature film. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences defines a short film as "an original motion picture that has a running time of 40 minutes ...

of the same name, which premiered at the

Sundance Film Festival The Sundance Film Festival (formerly Utah/US Film Festival, then US Film and Video Festival) is an annual film festival organized by the Sundance Institute. It is the largest independent film festival in the United States, with more than 46,66 ...

in January 2024. Written and directed by Jon Bell, the film stars

Shari Sebbens Shari Sebbens is an Aboriginal Australian actress and stage director, known for her debut film role in '' The Sapphires'' (2012), as well as many stage and television performances. After a two-year stint as resident director of the Sydney Thea ...

and

Meyne Wyatt Meyne Wyatt (born 14 August 1989) is an Australian actor. Wyatt graduated from the National Institute of Dramatic Art in 2010 and appeared in several theatre productions around the country. For his performance in ''Silent Disco'', Wyatt was name ...

Synopsis

The story is about a young

Aboriginal Aborigine, aborigine or aboriginal may refer to: *Aborigines (mythology), in Roman mythology * Indigenous peoples, general term for ethnic groups who are the earliest known inhabitants of an area *One of several groups of indigenous peoples, see ...

mother who thinks that her child is possessed, and includes

Indigenous Australian Indigenous Australians or Australian First Nations are people with familial heritage from, and membership in, the ethnic groups that lived in Australia before British colonisation. They consist of two distinct groups: the Aboriginal peoples ...

themes related to the

Stolen Generations The Stolen Generations (also known as Stolen Children) were the children of Australian Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander descent who were removed from their families by the Australian federal and state government agencies and church miss ...

(a government policy of forced removal of Aboriginal children from their parents) and

The Dreaming The Dreaming, also referred to as Dreamtime, is a term devised by early anthropologists to refer to a religio-cultural worldview attributed to Australian Aboriginal beliefs. It was originally used by Francis Gillen, quickly adopted by his co ...

. ''Moogai'' is the Bundjalung word for "ghost".

Cast

as Sarah *

as Fergus *

Tessa Rose Tessa is a feminine given name, sometimes a shortened form of Theresa. It may refer to: People * Tessa Albertson (born 1996), American actress * Tessa Balfour, Countess of Balfour (born 1950), British aristocrat * Tessa Blanchard (born 1994), Ame ...

as Ruth *

Clarence Ryan Clarence Ryan is a critically acclaimed Australian actor who has been acting since he was 14. For his performance in ''September'' he was nominated for 2008 AFI Award for Best Young Actor and for his performance in '' Mystery Road: Origin' ...

as Ray Boy *

Christian Byers Christian Byers (born 31 July 1993) is an Australian actor. In 2006, he made his film debut in '' Opal Dream'', before featuring in '' December Boys'' alongside Daniel Radcliffe.

as Constable Flatley *

Toby Leonard Moore Toby Leonard Moore (born 28 April 1981) is an Australian actor, best known for his roles as Victor in ''John Wick'' (2014), as James Wesley in the Netflix series '' Daredevil'' (2015), and Bryan Connerty in the Showtime series '' Billions'' (20 ...

as Dr Barnes *

Bella Heathcote Isabella Heathcote (born 27 May 1987) is an Australian actress and model. She began her acting career in 2008. The following year, she had a recurring role as Amanda Fowler on the television soap opera '' Neighbours''. Heathcote has since portr ...

as Becky * Alexandra Jensen as Miss Miller

Production

Bell's short film of the same name won the Midnight Shorts Grand Jury Award at the 2021

SXSW South by Southwest, abbreviated as SXSW and colloquially referred to as South By, is an annual conglomeration of parallel film, interactive media, and music festivals and conferences organized jointly that take place in mid-March in Austin, Te ...

Film Festival, as well as Best Director at the 2021

Brooklyn Horror Film Festival Brooklyn Horror Film Festival is an annual film festival in Brooklyn, New York. It was founded in 2016. With the 2020 edition of the festival cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic in the United States, it was one of the partners in the Nightstre ...

. The film is available in Australia on free streaming service

SBS on Demand SBS is a national public television network in Australia. Launched on 24 October 1980, it is the responsibility of SBS's television division, and is available nationally. In 2018, SBS had a 7.7% audience share. As of 2022, SBS is the lowest ...

. The film was co-produced by Kristina Ceyton and Samantha Jennings, of Causeway Films. South Australian special effects company KOJO Studios was responsible for the visual effects. Marty Pepper of KOJO, who served as, executive director, post-production, created a replica of the set at his own property in Willunga to create effects during

post-production Post-production is part of the process of filmmaking, video production, audio production, and photography. Post-production includes all stages of production occurring after principal photography or recording individual program segments. The ...

Release

The film premiered in the Midnights section of the

on 21 January 2024.

Reception

Reviewers of the Sundance premiere gave ''The Moogai'' mixed reviews, with the

RogerEbert.com ''RogerEbert.com'' is an American film review website that archives reviews written by film critic Roger Ebert for the ''Chicago Sun-Times'' and also shares other critics' reviews and essays. The website, underwritten by the ''Chicago Sun-Times' ...

reviewer suggesting that "tightening the effects" would help the film, and hoping that it would be further refined before its theatrical release.

References

External links

* *
''The Moogai''
at Causeway Films {{DEFAULTSORT:Moogai, The 2024 films 2024 independent films 2024 horror films 2020s English-language films