Quartile rating: 7/10 · 1 rating
Aaron Falk returns to his drought-stricken hometown to attend a tragic funeral. But his return opens a decades-old wound - the unsolved death of a teenage girl.
The Dry is a solid Australian crime thriller anchored by Eric Bana's quietly compelling performance as Aaron Falk, a federal agent reluctantly drawn back into his small-town past. Bana elevates the material considerably, bringing understated emotional depth to a role that could easily have been generic. The Australian landscape is used effectively but not exceptionally — the parched, drought-stricken setting creates atmosphere without consistently inventive framing. The plot interweaves present-day investigation with childhood flashbacks competently, though the dual-mystery structure feels somewhat familiar to fans of the genre. The film's novelty lies mainly in its distinctly Australian voice and setting rather than any radical formal innovation. The ending is the weakest element — the resolution feels abrupt and emotionally unsatisfying, undercutting the slow-burn tension built throughout, leaving key threads feeling rushed or underexplored.