Innuendo

The film's production notes rather comically dare to compare this amateurish Indi piece to the work of David Lynch and Roman Polanski among others. These pretensions to greatness are sadly misplaced in this budget-priced flick which admittedly does contain a heady mixture of twins, chainsaws, nude modelling, murder and the most garish collection of wigs you are guaranteed to have ever seen continually paraded on screen. Does seem like a project with which Lynch might want to involve himself, but sadly folks, he's not there.

Writer/Producer/Director/Lead Actor Saara Lamberg clearly has ambitions to create an intriguing web of mystery for the audience with this tale of a Finnish twin leaving her supposedly dysfunctional family and travelling to Australia to start her life anew. A rather large hurdle she has to overcome however, is that she can't act to save herself and she's onscreen for much of the movie's running time. Go figure. Brendon Bacon, as the nominal male lead is a little more convincing as Ben, her chainsaw-sculpting companion in the second half of the film.

Special mention needs to be made of the soundtrack music by someone by the name of Charly Harrison. Suffice to say, it's nails dragged across a blackboard aurally excruciating. Its repetitive drone is dished up right throughout the film , challenging us to decipher the dialogue being spoken by a cast perhaps best described as enthusiastic, rather than professional.

One certainly has to admire Director Lamberg for obviously being prepared to devote so much of herself in getting this project to the screen, but I for one hope that any future works, see her anchored firmly behind, rather than in front of the camera.

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.

An amazing talent which had me constantly thinking! Looking forward to her future work. The entire cast was excellent and the story line was so engaging. Just when you think you are on track with the story a new twist emerges! Saara is a fantastic talent and I wish her the best of luck!

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

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