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The Square

Australia, 2008

Film

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Blue-Tongue Films, Australia’s home of neo-noir, cuts their teeth with brothers Nash and Joel Edgerton taking on a domestic disturbance with disastrous consequences.

If there was a force most responsible for the wave of Australian neo-noir kicking off in the naughts, it would be Blue-Tongue Films, the Aussie film collective comprised of – among others – Kieran Darcy-Smith, Luke Doolan, Mirrah Foulkes, David Michôd and Edgerton brothers Nash and Joel. Between their features like Animal Kingdom (2010) and The Magician (2005), and a long catalogue of award-winning shorts, the group’s innate understanding of the rules of the genre mean they’re well-equipped when it comes to subverting them. That’s certainly the case with The Square, directed by Nash, written by Joel, and produced by the pair.

In some aspects a black comedy of errors, it follows Raymond (David Roberts) and Carla (Claire van der Boom) whose ongoing affair has disastrous consequences as seemingly good people make bad decisions. Populated with a who’s who of Aussie day players like Bill Hunter, Anthony Hayes, Damon Herriman and Blue-Tongue boys Darcy-Smith, Doolan and Joel Edgerton filling out the supporting roles, The Square is a nasty lil’ domestic thriller. Earmarking the promise of not just the Edgertons as filmmakers but the collective as a whole, it’s an intricate web of deceit, drama and discomfort that manifests in suburban mayhem.

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Collection

Not in ACMI's collection

Credits

director

Nash Edgerton

costume designer

Sally Sharpe

producer

Louise Smith

production company

Australian Film Finance Corporation

Blue-Tongue Films

Film Depot Pty. Ltd.

Igloo Films

New South Wales Film & Television Office

production design

Elizabeth Mary Moore

writer

Joel Edgerton

Matthew Dabner

Duration

01:45:00

Production places
Australia
Production dates
2008

Collection metadata

ACMI Identifier

tmdb-movie-15912

Language

English

Subject categories

Crime

Drama

Thriller

TMDB-Movie

15912

Wikidata

Q13582546

Collected

59 times

Please note: this archive is an ongoing body of work. Sometimes the credit information (director, year etc) isn’t available so these fields may be left blank; we are progressively filling these in with further research.

Cite this work on Wikipedia

If you would like to cite this item, please use the following template: {{cite web |url=https://acmi.net.au/works/119265--the-square/ |title=The Square |author=Australian Centre for the Moving Image |access-date=11 July 2025 |publisher=Australian Centre for the Moving Image}}