A powerful western drama set in the savage Eden of 1880's Australia and from the equally caustic pen of Nick Cave. An elemental story of family conflict and primal violence, destructive love and divided loyalties and featuring a stellar cast including Guy Pearce, Ray Winstone and Emily Watson. Coming from the narrative songwriting of Cave, each character is as vivid as any of his songs and could have easily stepped from Murder Ballads or Henry's Dream.

The film opens in the middle of a frenzied gunfight between the police and a gang of outlaws. Charlie Burns and his crew are captured by Captain Stanley. Together with Charlie's psychopathic, poetry-spewing older brother Arthur, they are wanted for a brutal crime. Stanley makes Charlie a seemingly impossible proposition in an attempt to bring an end to the cycle of bloody violence; bring Arthur to justice and Mikey will live.

The soundtrack which was composed by Nick Cave along with his long-time collaborator Warren Ellis of the Dirty Three incorporates soft chamber pieces, ghostly moodscapes and whispered laments. A visual and musical journey from revenge to redemption.

An astonishing existential force - Screen International