The Tumbleweed Memories Alphabet of The Alternative Part 11

Long Weekend

For years the shocking plight of the environment and the creatures we share it with has been the touch paper for many a movie, this Australian gem is one of my favorites. A couple whose relationship is waning venture out into the wilderness for a weekend away, an attempt to recapture their feeling towards each other. Showing as much disregard for the land around them as they do each other the couple slowly start to notice that something is wrong, the wildlife around them start to display a more aggressive type of behaviour as if angered by the couples abuse of the land.
Although it was remade in 2008, Long Weekend is a forgotten masterpiece, the two lead performances are astonishing, despite their characters having to be deliberately unlikeable for the story to work, both John Hargreaves and Briony Behets make their roles seem real and not mere cyphers in a script. The events that lead to the denouement take place gradually and the pace is pitch perfect matching the collapse of the couples relationship, nor is any of the violent scenes of nature turning for the sake of exploitation. A subtle, genuinely chilling movie that despite having a serious message never becomes pushy.