This 2020 Crime Thriller With A 90% Rotten Tomatoes Score Has Strong Neo-Western Vibes

At a time when Taylor Sheridan has almost single-handedly made the Western genre cool again, many of us might find ourselves craving some similar neo-Western entertainment. It's not as if we're struggling in that regard, considering the sheer amount of Taylor Sheridan shows on offer. But most of these small-screen projects lean more towards melodrama than the writer's films — "Sicario," "Wind River," and "Hell or High Water" — all of which are much more grounded and have a strong thriller influence. If you're a fan of that particular melding of neo-Western and crime thriller sensibilities, have I got the movie for you.

2020's "The Dry" stars Eric Bana as an Australian Federal Police officer who returns to his hometown in the wake of a few horrific deaths. Though the premise may sound like the basis for a fairly straightforward crime thriller, "The Dry" feels very much like a neo-Western thanks to its sweeping shots of a drought-ridden Australian outback, Bana's morally-conflicted hero, and the drought/crime-induced malaise that's fallen on the small town to which he returns.

Though "The Dry" failed to make much of an impression in the United States, it received widespread praise from critics. Now, it's available to stream on Hulu/Disney+ at no extra cost to subscribers so there's absolutely no excuse for missing this overlooked crime thriller/neo-Western/drama mashup.

"The Dry" is directed by Robert Connolly, who along with co-writer Harry Cripps, adapted Jane Harper's 2016 book of the same name. It stars Eric Bana as Federal agent Aaron Falk, who reluctantly returns to his hometown of Kiewarra (a fictional setting in the state of Victoria) after his childhood friend Luke Hadler (Martin Dingle-Wall) dies. The circumstances surrounding Luke's death are tragic, as it seems he shot his wife, Karen (Rosanna Lockhart), and son, Billy (Jarvis Mitchell), before turning the gun on himself, leaving their infant daughter, Charlotte, as the only survivor.

When Falk arrives for the funeral we learn why he seemed so unwilling to return in the first place. It turns out he and Luke were thought to have been involved in the death of Falk's girlfriend, Ellie Deacon (Bebe Bettencourt), 20 years prior. As you might expect, many Kiewarra residents aren't exactly happy to see him again, especially Ellie's father Mal Deacon (William Zappa) and cousin Grant Dow (Matt Nable), who harass Falk whenever they get the opportunity. After Luke's parents ask him to stay and investigate the crime, however, he has no choice but to remain in the town to solve the case and perhaps find absolution from his past misdeeds.

Shot in the Wimmera Mallee region of Victoria, "The Dry" is a haunting crime thriller that, in the contrasting of its sun-menaced environs against the dark activities unfolding beneath the carapace, recalls something like "True Detective" season 1 or, indeed, a slow burn version of Taylor Sheridan's "Sicario." But there's even more going on in Connolly's movie.

"The Dry" is impressive for melding its crime thriller/murder mystery elements with the neo-Western vibes of a Taylor Sheridan joint, while also functioning as an effective drama. Much of that comes down to Eric Bana, who's masterfully reserved in the lead role, making Aaron Falk's pain and guilt feel like a dull but persistent bruise that refuses to fade. Eric Bana spoke to /Film in 2021 about "The Dry," explaining how he's "really attracted to those subtle characters," and "love[s] the internal work that goes into them." It shows on-screen.

His co-stars are excellent too, infusing their characters with a naturalism that combined with the on-location shoot (sadly, an increasingly rare thing in the modern age) makes "The Dry" feel like a glimpse of real-world rural Australia and its inhabitants. This only heightens the impact of the film's most emotional scenes. If that's not enough to convince you, "The Dry" also maintains a 90% critic score on Rotten Tomatoes.

It's safe to say, then, that this is easily one of the most underrated crime thrillers of the last few years. Following its 2020 release in Australia, the film was given a 2021 theatrical run in the United States courtesy of IFC, but didn't really garner the attention it deserved. Now, with the movie available to stream on Hulu/Disney+, that could change. There's also a sequel, "Force of Nature: The Dry 2," which is worth a watch, though it wasn't quite as well-received as the original's impressive concatenation of styles.