The Square

Ray runs a building site. His marriage is over in all but name and he is seeing Carla, his neighbour. One day Carla's husband brings home a bag of money and hides it in the roof. Carla proposes taking it; they will leave together. Ray hires a man and the plan is simple: take the money, set a fire in its place, and everyone will believe the money burned. The fire happens. But there is one more person in the house that night. From that moment every correction requires a new lie and the chain grows. Nash Edgerton directs; Joel Edgerton and Matthew Dabner wrote the script. David Roberts, Claire van der Boom and Joel Edgerton are in the cast. It is an Australian production. The idea was Joel Edgerton's; he wrote it, decided it was not strong enough and shelved it, and his brother Nash read the script and convinced him it could be made as a thriller. The film screened at the Sydney Film Festival on 15 June 2008. The matter it treats is a small mistake growing; none of the characters set out to plan a killing. The film uses chance as a device of plot; things go wrong at the worst possible moment every time. Nash Edgerton came from stunt work and the action is unshowy but hard. The narrative uses provincial Australia not as background but as pressure; everybody knows everybody. The blackmail line keeps the tension high throughout. The ending saves nobody. Its limit is tone; the narrative is merciless, the characters are not likeable, and there is no hope. Who it is for: lovers of noir and viewers curious about Australian thrillers. Who it is not for: it is dark, merciless, and the ending heavy.