The most compelling, meaningful movies often offer a searing commentary on social issues that are universally relevant to audiences around the world. Acclaimed Indigenous Australian film auteur Ivan Sen (‘Mystery Road’) has made another insightful feature with the new crime drama, ‘Limbo.’ The movie is a poignant, intimate journey into the complexities of loss and the impact of the justice system on Aboriginal families in Australia.
The film offers a searing commentary on the failures of colonial law enforcement and judicial systems in serving Indigenous peoples. The characters in the drama are all stuck in their own limbo, as they’re unable to move out of their situations which have been created by their environments. They all struggle to overcome that state, as they realize they’re all catalysts for each other’s change, which will allow them to break free.
Sen wrote, directed, served as the cinematographer, edited and produced ‘Limbo,’ in which he transforms the sun-drenched landscapes of the Australian Outback into a brooding black-and-white world. Simon Baker starred in the movie’s lead role of Detective Travis Hurley, and also served as an executive producer on the project.
The feature had its North American premiere during the Toronto International Film Festival’s (TIFF) Centerpiece section this past Tuesday, September 12. ‘Limbo’ then had its second TIFF screening the next day, Wednesday, September 13.
Brainstorm Media acquired the digital and home entertainment distribution for the drama before its North American premiere at the Canadian festival. The project’s digital release will follow its theatrical distribution by Music Box Films in March 2024.
‘Limbo’ follows Travis as he arrives in the remote eponymous outback town, where people believe time — and reality — are somehow suspended. An old opal mining area, Limbo is riddled with labyrinthine tunnels; many of the dwellings, including Travis’ motel, are built into the earth and stone to provide escape from the oppressive heat of Southern Australia.
Battling inner demons and a drug addiction, Travis is in Limbo to reopen the 20-year-old cold case of a murdered Indigenous girl, Charlotte, whose killer may still live locally. Her death — and the subsequent apathy of the investigating officers and non-Indigenous community members — are still painfully felt by her sister Emma (Natasha Wanganeen) and brother Charlie (Rob Collins).
Charlotte’s siblings both make it clear to Travis that they doubt his ability to solve the case, as there’s little evidence and community support. But as truths about the murder begin to unfold, the detective gains a new insight into the unsolved disappearance from the case’s surviving witnesses and the reclusive brother of the chief suspect.
But the troubled yet committed detective is stoically seeking some kind of redemption in the cold case. In the process, Travis confronts what all residents of Limbo seem to endure: the unrelenting sense that time is meaningless and little will ultimately change.
Sen and Baker generously took the time the morning of the movie’s North American premiere during TIFF this week to talk about making the feature during a Zoom interview. The interview with the filmmakers can be viewed in the above video.
Film Factual 