Review: Nitram

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In 1996, a mass shooting occurred in the Australian State of Tasmania. This film attempts to question how Nitram (Caleb Landry Jones) eventually got to the point where he took so many innocent lives. 

I had been wanting to see this since it got strong reviews out of Sundance. You hear a lot about how well Australia handled gun reform in the wake of this tragedy. Especially here in the United States where we do nothing and 100's of people die every year in mass shootings. The film handles it as well as it can. It never exploits the deaths, it doesn't ask you to feel sorry for Nitram, it merely asks you to observe. 

You could say there are multiple failures in Nitram's life. He clearly not cognitively all there and has little to no empathy. His parents love him, but can't give him the proper care he needs. Too many excuses are made for him. Knowing what he eventually does, it's unnerving to watch him go from place to place, making one reckless decision after another.

Landry Jones gives his best performance to date here. He nails his Aussie accent ( at least to my ears) and really gets to sink his teeth into something. Essie Davis also shows up for a brief period of time and is nearly unrecognizable. 

So is this for you? It's hard to recommend movies about real life murders, but it's currently streaming on Hulu and is well worth the watch.

Grade: B+

Comments

  1. thevoid99October 26, 2022 at 2:50 PM

    I've heard great things about this film since its premiere at Cannes as it gave Jones the Best Actor prize which only intrigues me even more to see this.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Brittani BurnhamOctober 27, 2022 at 8:41 AM

      I hope you can check it out soon! He's tremendous. I imagine he won't get nominated for anything other than *maybe* a Spirit Award, but he deserves more.

      Delete
  2. BirgitOctober 27, 2022 at 11:19 AM

    This sounds quite intriguing to me. I almost wish people would see this who have a loved one who might be going through something similar and can stop them from killing. I just don't get the mentality of the Bible thumping, gun toting thumper who have a sense of of fear and paranoia going on. I'm glad I'm in Canada but I hear more and more shootings in Toronto than ever before.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Brittani BurnhamOctober 27, 2022 at 4:05 PM

      Neither do I, and that's what's sad about this case. This kid clearly had a lot of problems that his parents were not equipped to deal with.

      Delete

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