The Nightingale

This film tells the story of a woman who seeks revenge in Australia two hundred years ago.

This is a very dark story, and is eerily engaging. Her experiences are highly traumatic, and there is just no way viewers can be immune to tears. I find myself rooting for her, and hoping her to get what she wants. It is a really good story, and acting by the lead characters is very convincing too.

I was interested to see what the director of "The Babadook" would make next, and I was not really prepared for this period piece filled with equal amounts of realism and brutality.

This is a very well made film, with great performances from the main leads, set in a time of colonisation on the island of Tasmania, when the white settlers were waging war against the first nations people.

But this is a tale of revenge, with a strong woman determined to avenge the death of her husband and baby at the hands of the corrupt and evil British Colonial men.

As hard as it is at times to watch, it is very compelling, the story and characters engage you and I had to see how it would play out, not guessing at how it would all end and being surprised at the ending.

The depiction of the realism of the difficulty of living at such a time was like a punch to the solar plexus.

After Babadook, you'd be excused to expect another horror movie. But this filmmaker has other plans. And what intriguing and complicated plans they are. The story is really interesting and it does keep it real. With all the ugly faces it brings up. I am not sure about the evil character being "humanized", but I get what she is trying to say there too.

There are so many things, details in this well researched and well crafted movie, that I don't think everything will be seen the first time around. What you do have to go through (and I don't think this will get better with repeat viewing) are some very nasty and vile scenes happening to some of the characters you should care for. So this is anything but an easy film to watch. It is harrowing and it is draining. But in a sense it may also be "rewarding", if you consider the things it touches and brings forth ... every nation, every land, every country has their own fair share of dark history they probably don't like to be reminded of.

So tread lightly, be aware of the slow pace, but still brutal story(telling) ... and go on a dark journey ... Really dark!

This isn't an easy film to watch at times, but it's definitely one that is crucial and is very well done.

The most brutal and intense movie i've ever seen in my life.

People walked out, someone fainted. Completely unflinching and horrifying from start to finish, and many scenes made me so uncomfortable i didn't want to watch anymore. Jennifer Kent is the only person who could have made this film, and her exploration of female trauma and colonialism's impact on the aboriginal peoples of Australia & Tasmania was incredible. I'm gonna go throw up now.