Kangaroo is the latest addition to Australia’s cinematic landscape.
The plot is loosely inspired by the life of Chris “Brolga” Barns. Barns, also known as Kangaroo Dundee, works tirelessly to rescue, rehabilitate and release orphaned joeys.
Barns was a tour guide in Alice Springs when he realised that kangaroos were often collateral damage of highway accidents in the Red Centre. With the nearest wildlife facilty over a thousand kilometres away, he saw an urgent need to establish Kangaroo Sanctuary. The centre is now two decades into its wildlife saving mission.
Going into the movie, we know the out of towner will eventually fit in and build a sanctuary that wins the town over.
However, that’s where the similarities end. Despite the predictability, Kangaroo is a magnetic watch.
It is a beautifully shot film, capturing the sweeping panaromas of the Red Centre while also embracing First Nations culture and identities.
The latter is well represented by Charlie (newcomer Lily Whiteley), a plucky twelve year old who has recently moved back to Silver Gum in Arrernte land.
She is also deeply attached to kangaroos, much to the exasperation of her mother Rosie (the always delightful Deborah Mailman). I would be exasperated too if I kept finding random joeys hopping through the house unsupervised!
This attachment to kangaroos is a combination of spiritual and sentimental, representing a reverence to a First Nations totem and a memorial to Lily’s recently departed father. It is a respectful recognition of the importance of First Nations spirituality.
The film also brilliantly captures the tight-knitness of a small community and how isolating it can feel to newcomers.
Despite having roots in Silver Gum, she still feels like an outsider. She would rather spend more time with her roos than playing footy with the other kids.
Our other protagonist, Chris Masterson (Ryan Corr) is a weatherman eyeing greater heights of fame. A workplace incident forces him out of the spotlight, so he drives through the Outback chasing opportunity.
His life is worlds away from the existence fo the everyday Silver Gum resident. In his first encounter with the townspeople, he manages to rub them the wrong way with his tone deafness.
After this hostile reception, he speeds out of town. He ends up wrecking his car and killing a kangaroo in the process. Thankfully, our vapid superstar has a conscience so despite his reservations, he hoofs it back to town with an orphaned joey in his arms.
He is greeted by Charlie, who manages to convince him into taking care of the joey while her relative fixes his car. What starts as a week long delay extends into weeks of running a kangaroo nursery out of Charlie’s grandparents’ shed.
I would call Kangaroo a redemption movie but that implies that the movie is singularly focused on Masterson’s personal progression.
Kangaroo is more than that. It shows us how random events can be the catalyst for change. We see it at both the individual level and community wide.
Rachel House nails her role as Jessie, the prickly pub owner who seems to also have a certificate from Le Cordon Bleu. It was slowly satisfying watching her character evolve throughout the movie. I appreciated the measured transformation as opposed to a complete 180 flip in her personality.
Kangaroo is ultimately a feel good movie, with depth that pulls the audience into pockets of emotion. The lighthearted moments are beautifully tempered with flashes of the undercurrent of grief and despair our protagnists feel. And of course, having some ridiculously adorable joeys on screen gives it all the bonus points.
Kangaroo opens in cinemas on 18th September.