Breaking news: it turns out you probably
shouldn’t believe everything Nigel Farage tells you. Far from the foreigner-free
utopia that Britain’s own mini-Trump implies Australia has become because they’ve
adopted the perfect solution of the points-based immigration system, Down Under
paints a very different, far uglier picture. Beginning with shocking real
footage of the 2005 Sydney race riots, it quickly zooms in on two conflicting
groups – one white, one Arab – as they head towards a violent showdown on the Crunolla
beach of Sydney’s area known as ‘The
Shire’.

There are two cars, each carrying four men.
In one, Nick drags along his reluctant best friend Hassim who just wants to
find his missing brother. In the other Jason ropes in his stoner mate Shit-Stick
who just wants to watch Lord of the Rings with his high functioning Down
syndrome cousin Evan. After the violence of the night before, the whites are
itching to go ‘Lebanese-bashing’, while the Arabs are keen to stand their
ground and show the Aussie locals that they won’t be pushed around and off the
beach. Both cars are loaded with an assortment of weapons and enough ignorance
to fuel a potentially explosive finale.

With its opening shots of real riots, 24-hour
spanning narrative and warring races at each other’s throats, Down Under sounds
like an Antipodean La Haine or a Do the Right Thing Down Under edition. But writer/director
Abe Forsythe are rarely interested in the drama inherent in the situation. Down
Under is topsy-turvy turning what should be a politically charged tragedy into
a ludicrous, hysterical farce. Almost every character is an idiot and every
confrontation, every attempt at violence ends in acts of hilarious
incompetence.

From the guy with a bandaged face to protect
his recently tattooed face, to the white trash couple who endlessly swear at
their kids and let them watch horrific Aussie horror Wolf Creek, to the
numbskulls that hold up a Middle Eastern fast food joint just to get a kebab,
Down Under is full of laughable grotesques. It’s a film that ruthlessly mocks
the little people; the idiots that get involved in these petty race wars for
often insignificant reasons. In that sense, it is a tragedy, but Down Under
barely lets up from providing belly laughs for enough time to care about any of
the characters.

Any seriousness is almost immediately
punctured wether by hilarious pop song choices from The Vengaboys to Natalie
Imbruglia, or by the utter stupidity of the characters delivering the lines. But
Down Under’s best ploy is to just about keep you caring as the two cars
eventually collide. In each car, there is an innocent, someone with a few brain
cells to rub together with the potential to rise above the pit of hatred,
aggression, xenophobia, homophobia and sexism that they find themselves living in.
With one car also packed with enough canisters of petrol to blow all of the men
sky high, Down Under still manages to keep you gripped even as it blares
Christmas songs over the most inappropriate moments of tension.

Most of all, let Down Under be a warning.
All is clearly not well in Australia and if this film is anything to go by,
they are living with exactly the same racial tensions and dealing with the same
level of ignorance as we are. But it’s a lot bloody easier to laugh about it
when it’s 10,000 miles away.

DOWN UNDER / DIRECTOR & SCREENWRITER:
ABE FORSYTHE / STARRING: LINCOLN YOUNES, RAHEL ROMAHN, MICHAEL DENKHA, FAYSSAL
BAZZI, ALEXANDER ENGLAND, RELEASE DATE: OCTOBER 6TH

Expected Rating: 7 out of 10

Actual Rating