Exotic scenery steals show Beyond the Known World (M)
101 mins If you’re someone who doesn’t listen to what critics say (and there seem to be plenty out there, as they delight in telling me), stop reading and just go see Beyond the Known World.
If you’ve seen the trailer, its tantalising mix of exotic locales with the heartrending drama of parents searching for a lost child says this is the film for you.
But if you don’t have the time or money to be undiscerning in your cinema outings, then Dear Reader, read on.
The New Zealand-Indian coproduction opens with a scene in Auckland Airport where David Wenham (Lion) and Sia Trokenheim (TV’s Step Dave) are waiting anxiously in a rapidly emptying Arrivals area.
When their teenage daughter fails to materialise, their decision to travel to the Himalayas in search of her raises deeply buried issues. What makes this extra challenging, however, is the divorced couple’s evident antipathy for one another. Will the adventure bring the family back together, or tear it farther apart?
Narratively, the smartly edited, economical storytelling throws our leads straight into the chase – or at least the hunt – as the couple steps off the plane and into a world of perceived corruption, unreliable witnesses and shady strangers. No camera shot or scene lingers longer than it needs to, which underscores the growing sense of urgency throughout.
Stylistically, the photography and exotic scenery deliver a terrific glimpse of the local environment and its people, through which we see the culture clash which draws in Julie but repels her ex-husband, and the inherent racism in Carl’s assumptions.
With everything moving at pace, and a story which starts to feel episodic as the pair trek (quite literally) from place to place to follow a lead, it sometimes feels like there isn’t enough time to soak up the intended emotion. And technically, this should be a gutwrenching tale, a living nightmare for any parent. Yet, while it is easy to see why Carl and Julie didn’t work out, it’s not clear why they would ever have been attracted to each other in the first place.
Trokenheim is great – a mum whose own wanderlust has been lived out by her child – but Wenham (who ironically played a father who receives a child adopted from India in the brilliant Lion, but here has lost his child in that country) plays his resentment and desperation with a heavy hand.
In support there is the rather strange Emanuelle Beart, a renowned French actress whose name was presumably attached to give the film some international weight but whose role is annoyingly mannered and unconvincing.
However, Kiwi Chelsie Preston Crayford (Home by Christmas) gives a blistering performance as a backpacker caught up in the mystery.
While the first two-thirds are definitely the film’s strongest suits, Beyond the Known World will appeal to those who are in it for the journey rather than the destination.