Adapted from Gordon Graham’s award-winning 1991 play by Stephen Sewell, which was inspired by the horrific Anita Cobby murder case, The Boys is an amazing directorial debut from Rowan Woods.
The film follows the events that occur after Brett Sprague (David Wenham), is released from prison after serving time for assaulting the manager of a local bottle shop. Brett’s presence creates a constant sense of tension as everybody in the house – his mother Sandra (Lynette Curran), his two brothers Glenn (John Polson) and Steve (Anthony Hayes), his girlfriend Michelle (a fantastic performance from Toni Collete), Glenn’s wife Jackie (Jeanette Cronin), Steve’s pregnant girlfriend Nola (Anna Lise) and Sandra’s boyfriend George (Pete Smith) – treads carefully around Brett’s restrained anger. The film occasionally flashes forward to the arrest and trial of the three brothers, building up the suspense as we wait for Brett to explode into violence.
The actual murder is never shown but the suspense of the film and the atmosphere created by a superb cast makes this a chilling experience. The film won four awards at the 1998 AFI Awards – Best Director, Best Supporting Actor, Best Supporting Actress and Best Screenplay Adapted from Another Source.
Cinematography by Tristan Milani.
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Credits
Collection metadata
ACMI Identifier
309199
Language
English
Audience classification
M (15+)
Subject categories
Advertising, Film, Journalism, Mass Media & TV → Motion pictures - Awards - Australia
Crime, Espionage, Justice, Police & Prisons → Crime
Crime, Espionage, Justice, Police & Prisons → Prisoners - Australia
Crime, Espionage, Justice, Police & Prisons → Prisoners' families
Economics, Philosophy, Politics, Religion & Sociology → Violence
Family, Gender Identity, Relationships & Sexuality → Coming out (Sexual orientation)
Family, Gender Identity, Relationships & Sexuality → Violence
Feature films → Feature films - Australia
Food, Health, Lifestyle, Medicine, Psychology & Safety → Violence
Sound/audio
Sound
Colour
Colour
Holdings
VHS; Access Print (Section 1)