Having pivoted to science fiction for his last film, Loveland, Ivan Sen, the acknowledged master of the outback noir, returns to more familiar ground with his latest offering. Starring Simon Baker, Limbo hits cinemas on May 18.
Baker plays Travis, a jaded cop who rolls into the remote mining town of the title (actually Coober Pedy, a charming wasteland familiar from Mad Max: Beyond Thunderdome and every second movie set on Mars) to dig into the unsolved murder of an Indigenous woman some 20 years ago.
The locals, including the victim’s brother Charlie (Rob Collins) and sister Emma (Natasha Wanganeen), are tight-lipped and mistrustful, the investigation having been mishandled back in the day. But a local recluse (Nicholas Hope of Bad Boy Bubby), whose brother was a key suspect in the murder, seems to know more than he’s letting on.
For his part, Travis has his own issues; the horrors of his work have left him with a heroin habit and wants to get back to the more familiar environment of the city. But the mystery runs deep, and he finds himself stuck in limbo—literally and figuratively.
Limbo is a “small town with a dirty secret” noir in the vein of Bad Day at Black Rock, and that trope fits Sen well. Once again writing, co-producing, directing, shooting, composing, editing and even casting, Sen is a true auteur, offering up a grim but affecting meditation on loss, grief, and racism.
They certainly liked it in Berlin, where the film had its world premiere at the 73rd Berlin International Film Festival. Critics praised Baker’s transformative, nuanced performance and Sen’s command of the camera, isolating his characters in the barren, hostile environment they find themselves in. Ivan Sen remains one of Australia’s most important filmmakers and this is easily one of the most hotly anticipated Australian films of the year.
