‘Birdeater’ will make you think twice about bucks parties
Image: Source: Umbrella Entertainment
There are some places where women simply don’t belong and bachelor parties, better known as buck’s parties in Australia, are a prime example.
Birdeater, an unnerving Aussie psychological drama thriller from directors Jack Clark and Jim Weir, follows Louie (Mackenzie Fearnley), a young man who invites his fiancé Irene (Shabana Azeez) to attend his buck’s night.
“It’ll be super modern and fun and when I told the boys they got super excited,” he tells Irene. A friend follows suite and also invites his girlfriend.
Hence five mates and two women come together for a couple of nights of toxic masculine ‘fun’ and the rule is, that there will be no drugs and no funny business as the girls are present. But will the rule be observed? This will be a night they won’t soon forget – but for all the wrong reasons.
Excessive alcohol and drug consumption fuels immaturity, foolishness and idiocy amongst the boys and temperaments ignite as truths and secrets about relationships are unveiled during malicious conversations.
The purpose of this buck’s night was for Louie to bond and spend time with his mates before he ventured off to wedded bliss, but will his relationship with Irene and others be irreparably tarnished?
Birdeater has a soothing and tranquil opening with the intimacy between a loving couple, but as the story progresses it becomes decisively uncomfortable and unsettling to watch as paranoia and substance abuse envelops the characters.
This powerful drama puts human relationships under the microscope. As intoxication and drug use accelerates in the second half the intensity builds. Audiences will experience the bizarre nature of the suffocating ‘trip’ which these party animals are experiencing – an entrancement from which there is no escape.
This original drama makes compelling viewing. Astute direction, edgy performances from the ensemble cast, clever editing and execution of the project compound to the realism and overwhelmingly feral nature of the story.
After watching this dark and riveting movie, men may think twice about attending a buck’s party – with or without women…
★★★½
In cinemas July 18
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