But certain details and explanations just don’t add up meaning that there must be more right around the corner. It takes time to build back up again before the next batch of reveals and secondary twists come along. Although it’s still true that by introducing a few big elements early on some of the momentum is evaporated. If you want to remain completely fresh it’s probably worth avoiding the synopsis for the film at all, but these are just preliminary details. But this isn’t a major spoiler since a lot of big reveals are given away at around the half-hour mark before things really get moving.
BACKTRACK 2015 MOVIE
If I mention characters with amnesia or possible ghostly goings on it immediately points to a lot of standard movie plot developments which you’ve seen dozens of times before. Soon enough these events will lead Peter back to his childhood home where he’s going to have to dig up buried truths and old memories, none of which are particularly pleasant.
It’s about to become very apparent that he’s being haunted by more than just his tragic past. However the worst is yet to come and after an unscheduled visit from a strange teenage girl things start to veer off into more than a standard mystery. Peter soon tries to gets to get back to work helping people attending his practice, but it’s soon pretty clear he needs more counselling than they do. The opening scenario is a stylish, if drab and grey, prelude coupled with a slick title sequence that really sets the tone. But Peter has bigger problems which are about to appear on the horizon. The location they’re in really isn’t helping the situation since he seems to have moved them into a part of town where it never stops raining. The unpacked boxes in his new home suggests this plan isn’t working out, and it’s probably not a good sign for his marriage that his wife looks like she’s feeling similar levels of trauma. Peter Bower (Adrien Brody) is a troubled man trying to get his back life (and his career as a therapist) together after the tragic death of his daughter in an accident. There’s a decent film somewhere at the core of Backtrack but this is a highly lacklustre Australian offering that will be neither well received on home soil or abroad and in a local industry that is already facing an uphill battle to maintain a loyal local following, films like this certainly help the cause very little.Starring: Adrien Brody, Bruce Spence, Sam Neillīacktrack is an Australian mystery movie, part psychological thriller and part horror story. Since Brody’s win at the Academy Awards way back in 2003, the actor has put his name to such projects as Giallo, High School, Third Person, Dragon Blade and American Heist and his presence in Backtrack ads absolutely zilch to proceedings as Petroni’s film starts off uninvitingly and continues on its merry way with neither the scares, chills or emotional heft to make the mystery of Bower’s past and his ghostly friends worthwhile and Petroni struggles to culminate proceedings in a satisfactory manner as things take a turn for the downright ludicrous as Bower’s father William and Robin McLeavy’s kindly police officer Barbara Henning become involved in the various uninteresting twists and turns. The career of Adrien Brody needs particular attention paid to it after his largely lifeless and badly Australian accented turn as psychologist with a past and ghostly visions Peter Bower sees the star of King Kong and The Pianistcontinue on a career bender to the edges of obscurity that not even the shores of Australia can save. Hiring Oscar winner and one time blockbuster participant Adrien Brody and acquiring the services of the refreshed Sam Neill may’ve seemed like a nice stepping stone for Backtrack’s audience acquisitions but not even the two seasoned performers can save this stinker from wallowing in its own self-made problems of ineptitude. “Some memories are so unacceptable we will do anything we can to forget them”Īn Australian psychological thriller that harbors a potentially powerful narrative, The Rite and The Book Thiefwriter turned director Michael Petroni’s film fails to capitalise on his stories potential as Backtrack squanders a capable cast in amongst some dire execution, tired storytelling tropes and an overall feel of mundanity that ruins any chance Backtrack had of finding an audience or fans. To unlock the mystery at the heart of his troubles, Peter must journey back to his hometown and face the horrors of his past. Plot – Australian psychologist Peter Bower (Brody) finds himself haunted by the past and a recent tragedy as he discovers a horrible secret about some of his patients. Director – Michael Petroni (Till Human Voices Wake Us)Ĭast – Adrien Brody, Sam Neill, Robin McLeavy