Quartile rating: 6.5/10 · 1 rating
Set against the badlands of Australia where the English rule with a bloody fist and the Irish endure, Ned Kelly discovers he comes from a line of Irish rebels — an uncompromising army of cross dressing bandits immortalised for terrorising their oppressors back in Ireland. Fuelled by the unfair arrest of his mother, Kelly recruits a wild bunch of warriors to plot one of the most audacious attacks of anarchy and rebellion the country has ever seen.
True History of the Kelly Gang is a visually anarchic, punk-inflected reimagining of the Ned Kelly legend that earns strong marks for its singular aesthetic vision. Director Justin Kurzel and cinematographer Ari Wegner craft a raw, expressionistic visual language — handheld chaos, murky period texture, and hallucinatory imagery — that makes this one of the more visually distinctive films of recent Australian cinema. The cross-dressing, anti-colonial punk-rock framing of the Kelly story is genuinely novel and gives it a strong Novelty score. The acting is committed, with George MacKay physically immersive, though the ensemble is uneven and some characters underwritten. The plot is fragmented and episodic by design, which works thematically but weakens narrative momentum and coherence — serviceable but not fully satisfying. The ending, despite its historical inevitability, feels rushed and emotionally incomplete, failing to deliver the cathartic or tragic weight the buildup demands.