The Australian film “Limbo” is an outer planetary experience.
Filmed in black and white in opal mining territory of the Australian outback. The terrain, mining “holes”, abandoned equipment and vehicles and caves with howls of dingos and cries of birds in the distance create an otherworldly setting for “Limbo”.
Heavily tattooed murder detective Travis Hurley (Simon Baker) is not your ordinary detective. In the opening scene and in some subsequent ones Hurley drives to his destination listening to evangelical Christian tapes. He arrives at Hotel Limbo, cooks up his dope and shoots it collapsing on the bed. One child in a scene says to Hurley he looks more like a drug dealer than a cop.
The plot in “Limbo” is the usual murder detective stuff namely finding the murderer. Hurley is working on a cold case concerning the disappearance and possible murder of a young aboriginal child Charlotte who twenty years ago in Limbo disappeared. Suspects were interviewed by police and some railroaded and bullied too. Hurley patches clue after clue in his quest to find the murderer investigating grief stricken forever altered family members, suspects and townsfolk. All well done and written. It is obvious the police are both racist and incompetent. Charlotte is a “black” seemingly a common name for Australian aboriginals so why would the police take the matter seriously.
Most riveting about the film is its dabbling in noir cinema. Shot in black and white in extra-terrestrial like scenery with careful angles and lighting could this be a question of spectacular cinematography stealing the show?
Why the term “Limbo” ? As Hurley enters the church in Limbo he hears a recording explaining what limbo means in Christianity. Pay close attention to this recording and contemplate if Hurley is not only on a criminal investigation but a Messianic one as well.
Written and directed by Ivan Sen.
You can watch the trailer here https://www.imdb.com/video/vi1632487193/?ref_=tt_vi_i_1
VOD/Digital release 21May2024.
A Bird's Eye View of Fashion, Food, Travel, Culture, Beverage and Curiosity 