Innuendo

This is my first review of a film, so bear with me. I had the pleasure of viewing an Australian production by Finnish-Australian producer/director/screenwriter/actress Saara Lamberg. Lamberg's feature debut is a Scandi-style art-house thriller that is rarely, if ever made in Australia. This was an ambitious project made in Finland and Australia on a tight budget; I have been told. It follows the story of twins Tulli and Suvi (both played by Lamberg herself) raised in a religious and oppressive Finnish family. Tulli was the more neglected and abused of the two, while Suvi was the parent's "Angel", as Tulli would refer to her sister. Most of the story takes place on Tulli's trip in Australia, interwoven with flashbacks of the twin's childhood in Finland. Tulli is hell-bent on wreaking havoc on anyone who comes in contact with her, especially the people she befriends. She explains to us her motivations for all her atrocities by the end of the film, but I will not reveal those, as it will spoil it for the viewer. The film provides us with numerous memorable scenes, a lot of them shocking and some unexpectedly humorous. The latter are interspersed randomly but perfectly throughout this gloomy film. The ambiguous ending leaves the audience pondering; what happened? I would recommend this film to anyone who is interested in art-house cinema. It is not a popcorn movie but a thought-provoking film beautifully written, directed, produced and most importantly starring the extraordinarily talented and hardworking Saara Lamberg.

• Dusan Dobrilovic

The set up of Innuendo is that the heroine has left her religiously and sexually oppressive parents in her home in Finland, along with her favoured twin sister, for a life in Australia. Her past has rendered her a completely insular character, almost monosyballic, who repels or attacks almost all form of interaction.

Watching a character give nothing to anyone makes the film hard to stick with for a long time. I felt like I was getting nowhere, and not wondering 'Where is this going?' but 'Will this go anywhere?' Knowing so little of the backstory at this point, I didn't think Saara Lamberg's performance was giving me enough hint of what was hidden to hold my interest

Slowly, violence and weird fantasies start to creep in, and the film gathers more of a hold as it continues. Seeing more of the heroine on her own in more extreme situations, not just fobbing off all the other characters, also starts to suggest more her inner turmoil, which is the point of interest needed to focus everything.

There are some audacious scenes, painful and ominous and true scenes, and some strong performances. I think Lamberg is really good in multiple roles, it's just that for too long in the film, the screenplay (her own) keeps the character too barricaded. Ultimately Innuendo ends much stronger than it began, which is way better than the opposite, and has resonance. But much of it is a slog on the way to building to that point. Flawed but with value.

Director Saara Lamberg has created a film that resists easy categorization, so I'll go with psycho-sexual drama.

Tulli and Suvi (both played by the deliciously off-kilter Lamberg) grew up in Finland, and were subjected to contrary parenting whose legacy is now being visited on Tulli, who has relocated to Australia (as Lamberg herself did).

Like its uncertain genre, it's also uncertain here what is autobiographical and what is fiction –– ultimately, it matters not, but the drama possesses a strong scent of earthy authenticity. What the audience gets is a whirlwind odyssey to Toxic-Town as Tulli emotionally and physically rampages through the lives of everybody she meets and annihilates.

As it skilfully sets up its premise, it skilfully fulfills its promise also with a conclusion that intelligently wraps up its many open sores.

With its stark and perverse humour, tangy eroticism, and detours into surrealism blended with kitchen sink drama, INNUENDO is the orgasm Aussie cinema has been begging for.

Imagine a 90s sex murder thriller with Matt Dillon if Matt Dillon never got near the thing and the manic-pixie-nightmare leading lady was treated with a psychological insight and a twisted sympathy that creeps into you and stays to unsettle you for a week. It's hilarious, and shocking. It's set in sharehouses you're sure you've been to a party at, that life drawing class you took in 2015, and features that play your housemate's girlfriend was in that you couldn't escape, and then never wanted to end. The settings are idiosyncratic, familiar, yet you have not seen anything this original in a long time.

I loved it . Quirky , original , well written and acted and shot as Indie flicks are in a style that doesn't pretend to be anything else . Loved the vividness and lighting in the pier scene, perfect direction and time of day . Congratulations to all . Look forward to the next one , 2 years is too long