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TEN EMPTY Rating TBC Time 95 minutes Country Australia Director Anthony
Hayes Cast Daniel Frederiksen, Geoff Morrell, Lucy Bell, Jack Thompson
Distributor Icon Worth $12.00 Released July 3

"…resounds with rare honesty and sings with hard fought emotional
truth."

In Australian cinema, this country's suburban heartland is often
depicted as a goofy, daggy place, usually by filmmakers who have most
likely grown up amongst the hip cafes and art scenes of our inner city
cultural hubs. The new film Ten Empty, however, brutally turns the
suburban depictions of films like Holy Smoke and The Castle on their
soft, fizzy heads. In this dark, seething little drama – which comes
courtesy of debut screenwriter/director Anthony Hayes and
co-writer/actor Brendan Cowell, two of this country's most dynamic
young talents – the Australian suburbs are home to the kind of bleak,
all encompassing human crises that wouldn't be out of place in the
works of Eugene O'Neill and Arthur Miller. There are, however, far more
uses of the word "cunt" than either of those masters of the human
condition would have ever dared use.

Elliott Christie (a nice slow burn from up-and-comer Daniel
Frederiksen, who was so effective in the TV mini-series Bastard Boys)
is a taciturn, slightly up-himself mover-and-shaker who returns to his
family home in the Adelaide suburbs to be named godfather of his new
half-brother. The whole situation, however, sits on an emotional knife
edge: Elliott's mentally unstable mother has died, leaving his boozy,
blustery father Ross (a daringly full bodied turn from Geoff Morrell)
to hook up with her sensitive sister Diane (an excellent Lucy Bell), as
younger brother Brett (an uncharacteristically quiet Tom Budge) locks
himself away in his room, refusing to talk. Looking on with a mix of
compassion and curiosity are family friends Bobby Thompson (a perfectly
cast Jack Thompson in "top bloke" form), Shane Hackett (Brendan Cowell
makes the most of his character's seedy and foul mouthed opportunities)
and the effervescent Bernadette (Blazey Best provides a lot of spunk
and sex appeal as the film's only normal, relatively well adjusted
character).

Co-creators Hayes and Cowell – as actors, writers, producers and
directors – have been previously and variously involved with a number
of tough, beautifully crafted projects (The Boys, Love My Way, Look
Both Ways, and the short film New Skin, amongst others), and bring all
of that to bear on their impressive feature debut as behind-the-scenes
talents. Their script zings with pungent dialogue (Ross' euphoric
description of buying a new set of beer taps for his home bar is
particularly amusing) and pointed observations about the Australian
character. A scene in which Elliott is quietly hounded and berated
after turning down the offer of a beer at a family barbecue is
absolutely spot-on in both its humour and familiarity. Ten Empty also
comes complete with a fascinating crew of characters. While the central
figure of Elliott is necessarily something of a cipher, everyone else
practically leaps off the screen. Though not always likable (Ross is a
self-absorbed bully; Shane is a bit of a grub), they're textured,
recognisable and gut-pokingly real.

Despite moments of raucous humour, the concerns of Ten Empty are
largely and impossibly dark, as it wades into mental illness,
alcoholism, betrayal and lacerating family dysfunction, possibly
steering itself away from a large cinema audience in the process. Yes,
it might be unpalatable and often grimy in its depiction of local
cultural custom, but the big-and-brave Ten Empty ultimately resounds
with rare honesty and sings with hard fought emotional truth.

Erin Free.

Ten Empty is a film which Australian actors Brendan Cowell and Anthony
Hayes had been developing for over several years. It stars long time
Australian TV and theater actor Daniel Frederiksen (in his lead film
debut) as Elliot, a big city player who returns to his childhood home
in Adelaide 10 years after running off to Sydney to fulfill the wishes
of his father Ross (Geoff Morrell) and his step-mum -formerly Aunt-
Diana (Lucy Bell) and become the Godfather of their new baby, his
half-brother. Almost immediately awkwardness driven by bitterness sets
in when he returns. Diana – plagued by Catholic guilt for marrying his
sister's husband– tries to accommodate Elliot with the best of
intentions. However Elliot does not want her generosity, nor does he
care much of his half-brother, who he casts aside like a bad disease
when asked to take care of him. The fireworks really go off when Elliot
comes face to face with his father. A culture clash of sorts ensues
between the blue-collar dad and the big city son. The most trivial of
gestures leads to colossal arguments, such as when Ross offers his son
home brewed beer, only to be defiantly turned down because he only
drinks red wine. A subsequent dinner scene turns into an even bigger
argument, and a backyard BBQ highlights the widening gap between old
school sensibilities and new school sensitivities. At first it feels
like a cynical look at Australian suburbia that ventures dangerously
close to becoming satire. But soon it becomes apparent what is
happening. This is not a family story: This is an exorcism. A purging
of guilt and remorse for past atrocities that has crippled the spirit
of one family. On top of it all hangs the black cloud of mental
illness, which took away the mind and life of Elliot's mother (who
suffered from bipolar syndrome). Now it is Elliot's brother Brett
(played by burgeoning actor Tom Budge) who has succumbed to a
(unspecified) mental illness. In turn he has willingly gone mute, will
not leave his room, and has become dangerous and suicidal. The family
is faced with limited options as to what to do with him, crumbling
under the prospect of countless pills on top of a mountain of medical
bills for private care. It is a damning commentary on the Australian
Governments attitude towards mental illness, and is the films strength.
As can be imagined, Ten Empty is a distressing and sad film to watch.
Co-writer/director Anthony Hayes sets up tense altercations for his
actors, and captures the carnage in several scenes that are held in a
single frame, not flinching from the conflict before him. With such
heavy material (written by Hayes and Brendan Cowell), powerful
performances were needed and are given by its cast. Supporting roles by
the amazing Jack Thompson and Cowell lend much needed laughs to counter
its heavy moments. Yet for all of its promise, it is a choppy
conclusion that stops the film from becoming that something special.
This is due to a major flaw in the screenplay which prompted me to
question: Why is a man who is clearly mentally disturbed (with suicidal
tendencies) left alone without adequate supervision? The answer, of
course, is to create a shock drama moment that will have the audience
reeling. The problem is that moment had come and gone in the middle of
the film, and the fact that the films characters did not take
precautions to make sure it would not happen again reeks of poor story
telling. It is drama for drama's sake, feels predictable, and undercuts
the emotional value expertly built before hand. So while Ten Empty dos
contain a lot of good points, it fails to capitalize on the promise
felt in its first hour.

Matthew Pejkovic, Matt's Movie Reviews.