The Horseman

Christian's daughter was found dead; an overdose, and she was sixteen. Some time later a tape arrives in his letterbox. On it is footage of his daughter, drugged, being filmed. Christian starts finding the men on the tape one at a time. He is an ordinary man; he works in pest control and all he has is his van. On the road he picks up Alice, hitchhiking. She is sixteen and has run away from home. Christian goes on; another name at every stop, and every time it is a little harder to turn back. Steven Kastrissios wrote and directed; it is his first film. Peter Marshall plays Christian and Caroline Marohasy plays Alice. It is an Australian production. The film was made on a very low budget with a small crew. The matter it treats is the cost of revenge; the film does not present getting even as satisfying. The scenes of violence are long and hard to sit through; the camera does not look away. The relationship with Alice is the only soft place in the narrative, and that line comes into danger too. Christian cannot fight; the fights are clumsy, bloody and believable. The narrative also asks about his own share; it is said plainly that he took no interest in his daughter. Along the road the Queensland country looks hot, dusty and empty. The ending gives nobody relief. Its limit is harshness; the torture scenes are explicit, the subject heavy, and the film does not protect the viewer. Who it is for: viewers who like hard revenge films and Australian independent cinema. Who it is not for: it is extremely violent, dark, and the ending bitter.