Mystery Road: Origin

Amazing. I was dreading this being a bad prequel with sub standard acting compared to the original Mystery Road with the amazing Arron Pederson. But...wow. This is stunning. Phenomenal acting, brilliant cinematography and photography that just stuns you. Have you ever seen the outback? Yeah I have. I live here and this is it - bang on accurate: feel the dust.

This is the outback writ large on film. Seriously congratulations to everyone involved in this, it's a creative credit to the original, and a new and impressive addition to the Mystery Road series and movies. 10/10.

Look me up, see my reviews, I hate almost everything. I bloody loved this. Gold star folks. If you haven't watched the original series, do yourself a favour and get into that. Then, watch this and thank me. I can't recommend this highly enough. Aussie TV at its best:

Physical resemblances to the Jay and Mary characters from the previous movies and series is remarkable and it has the same slow, depressing atmosphere as well. You can count the smiles on two fingers. Not one of the characters has any joy on their lives. Ultimately a very depressing addition to the Jay Swan saga. I am a huge Aaron Pederson fan but the series is just slow moving and leaves me feeling a bit empty. Virtually everyone is depressed and has a gloomy outlook on life. Granted, these are poor people with little or no future but the bleakness just about outweighs the story. I was hoping young Jay would have been a bit more upbeat. Even after his first night with Mary he didn't crack a smile.

Mystery Road - Origin

This prequel got off to a slow and lumbering start, it was just insufficient to start the show with "soap" like issues.

However, as the show progressed, at a very decided pace, it started to establish a crime and potential suspects, they couldn't help themselves with the woke inserts and predictable indigenous issues that lacked heft. We had some terrible stereotyping and really there was little new here.

Mark Coles Smith made a fine Jay Swan and he did look uncannily like a young Aaron Pedersen. Overall the acting was crisp but the story lacked narrative impetus, as this rate they would get through a couple of cases a year in this hick town.

I'm giving this a 6 outta 10 meaning worth watching but it could have been so much better!

Excellent production, character development, acting is amazing. Even bit parts nail it. If you enjoyed mystery Road you will love this. Very, very Australian. And if you've been in places like Jardine, yep it nails it.

Fan service writ large for the target audience. Two things set MR apart from almost every other police show on TV. The locale. And the pacing. If the pacing were any slower, viewers would be able to paint the garage between scenes. But with that slow pacing comes a constant unflinching sense of perpetual dread, and that is what makes MR a standout.