OUTBACK (2019) Reviews and overview

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‘No food. No water. No weapons. No escape.’

Outback is a 2019 Australian survival thriller film about a young American couple that find themselves stranded in the unforgiving desert wilderness.

Directed by Mike Green – making his feature debut – from a screenplay co-written with Brien Kelly, the Outback the Movie-Story Posse production movie stars Lauren Lofberg, Taylor Wiese, Brendan Donoghue and Kym Cramp.

The cinematography was handled by Tim Nagle (Nekrotronic; Wyrmwood: Road of the Dead).

Plot:

In 2015, American high school sweethearts, Wade and Lisa, travel Down Under to experience nature at its finest. However, their vacation gets off to a rocky start as Lisa had rejected Wade’s marriage proposal on the flight over.

As their relationship strains, they head inland to Uluru (Ayres Rock). On remote dirt roads, Wade’s GPS plays up and they find themselves stranded and ill-prepared. With only each other to rely on, the two are driven to extremes in order to stay alive in the harsh and unforgiving Australian Outback

Reviews:

“While Outback is a tense, nail-biting thriller at its heart, the film leans heavily into the horror genre with plenty of blood and flesh wounds to satisfy the most hard-core gorehound. Outback’s heart-racing thrills come courtesy of the film’s Jason Voorhees; Australia.” Cinema Australia

” …sadly, apart from the barren beauty of Aussie wasteland, and a few taut bits of agony, struggle and despair, Outback is neither staggering nor thrilling enough to firmly keep you on the edge of your seat.” CineMarvellous!

“When end credits finally come to the rescue, we’re sent home without feeling thrilled or emotionally moved. Bundle everything above with the redundant beats of Wade and Lisa’s meager “adventure” (stagger, collapse, repeat), the film tires out its audience like we’re the ones suffering in the sun.” Culture Crypt

Outback isn’t a perfect film, by any stretch of the imagination, but it is a good script that been well executed and brought to life by good actors and a tight crew. It’s raw, real and shows how easy getting lost can be.” The Curb

Outback is a very simple story incredibly well told… it’s modern man (and woman) versus nature, and all the horror that comes with that, done to on-edge perfection!” Horror Fuel

Outback is just a very bad movie that seemed to have a thin script and no characters we can invest in.” Movies Review 101

Outback’s underlying message that we should appreciate the little things in life and not take anything for granted is unfortunately lost due to Wade’s insistence on being in control of a situation that he has irreversibly lost control of due to one dimwitted decision after another. Despite the frustration caused by Wade’s refusal to listen to Lisa, the only voice of reason, resulting in his character stubbornly charging towards his fate, this is a movie about a woman who finds the strength to survive a seemingly impossible situation.” Nightmarish Conjurings

“The gritty realism along with excellent performances helps lift this movie and casts a blistering light on the savage land with a narrative that keeps you hooked and willing the characters to endure their torment and live to tell their tale.” Surgeons of Horror

Release:

Outback premiered at the 2019 Monster Fest on 2nd November in Sydney, Australia. Lionsgate is distributing the film in the USA on DVD, Digital and On-Demand on June 9th 2020. Buy DVD: Amazon.com

Cast and characters:

Lauren Lofberg … Lisa Sachs
Taylor Wiese … Wade Kelly
Brendan Donoghue … Keith Coopers
Kym Cramp … Cattle musterer
Jim Winton Porter … Cab driver

Technical details:

86 minutes

Plot keywords:

airport | Australia | bitten | blistered lips | couple | crying | desert | desperation | dehydration | dingo | exhaustion | Harbour Bridge | hire car | jellyfish | kangaroo | Opera House | Outback | panic | plane | poisoned | scorpion | snakes | SOS | stranded | sun | survival | Sydney | tourists | urine

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Teaser trailer:

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