, who is desperate to help, but there are no easy answers. The situation is immensely trying, particularly as Blaze was the only witness and her testimony is crucial. When she researches femicide online, and consults a friend about potentially confronting the killer, we realise she’s in way over her head; no creations of the mind are capable of remedying the real-world terrors around her.
Given the subject material, Barton is under no obligation to be subtle, and yet her direction spills into a heavy handedness that short-changes the audience’s intelligence. It’s obvious, for example, that Blaze’s story represents many others; we don’t need a symbolic shot of her leading a group of women in a march down the street.
Generally, the film is more cryptic than that, steeped in visual flourishes contemplating loss and rebirth. Recalling specific examples feels like isolating individual parts of a kaleidoscope. My mind returns all kinds of peculiar visions: of a tiny girl climbing out of the mouth of a mesh-encrusted corpse; of a miniature bus tumbling down a vacuum-like tunnel of cherries; of Blaze lying in bed, attached to inflatable gray hands three times the size of her body.
A clue to unpacking all this peculiar imagery arrives early on, when Blaze discovers a cicada shell she picks up and places on her jumper. This crusty, fragile thing is beautiful because it marks a transition, the insect having shed an outline of its youth during its progression into adulthood. This thought line feeds into a Puff the Magic Dragon-esque message about growing up, and Blaze as Jackie Paper, contemplating leaving behind things that are exquisitely special but have run their course.
‘Savage’s anchoring presence joins other young Australian actors who’ve recently excelled in hallucinogenic local films.’The human element binding the various bits and pieces together is an intensely excellent performance from Savage, who brings so much to the table, terrifically portraying resoluteness amid inner turmoil and projecting a challenging range of emotions.