The Dry

A nicely civil detective story with a hero who surprisingly doesn't fight, shoot, or make cool jokes, and yet for two hours the viewer is quite entertained by a solid plot, good actors, and a decent script. A smart crime drama with an easy-to-grasp plot premise where someone has done something in an unassuming small town and an uninvited guest in the form of Eric Bana must find out who, what, how among the old-timers – something like Prisoners, mixed Hell or High Water. Similarly grounded and relatively raw, but unlike the two aforementioned hits, here the individual props and directorial handwriting are not quite up to scratch. (16/09/2021)

A fairly standard detective story that disregards proper investigative procedures, The Dry drops Eric Bana, whom I usually like, into a small Australian town and lets him navigate the unfolding plot. While it has a few bright spots, they mostly come towards the end, making for a bit of a slog to get there. (02/06/2023)

A crime drama without murders is like a brothel without whores – this is no Se7en. The Dry is a relatively well-directed and well-acted drama (there are sadly very few crime elements), without any proper investigation or gathering of evidence. The two hours drag on like a leaky faucet, nothing interesting, innovative, or refreshing happens, and personally, I have no desire to waste time on something like this. The ending is relatively decent and the music is noteworthy, but that extremely unengaging slow pace is lethal. 4/10. (02/04/2021)

Kiewarra Black Hole. A drought-stricken landscape waits for rain, a federal agent waits for a key clue to appear, and the same man waits to see if the receding tide of time might reveal ancient sins. I’ll spoil it a bit, but a single cloud won’t bring rain. It's a slow-burn drama that merely smolders, even in moments when flames are visible. It's remarkable how, in this film, Marshland, or even Under the Salt, the role of a person absorbed by the environment and their gradually changing character over time plays a part. If chosen appropriately, it's a blessing for the creators. It's a pity that a few years after Pitt turned him into a trailer, Eric Bana began to fade from view and, consequently, from the audience's mind. (31/08/2021)

A very good, old-fashioned detective story with a strong dramatic foundation and slow revealing of facts in both cases. Arid Australia, just one discarded cigarette butt away from a destructing fire, captivating music, great cast with a precise Bana, dead calves lying around on trucks and unclear culprits almost till the very end. Nice, slow investigations hardly ever get to be filmed and that’s a big shame. (11/09/2021)