Hollywood is a ways away from Australia.
To anyone with any sort of knowledge of our planet this is obvious. But this rather simple geographical fact plays out as the key struggle in the film Kangaroo Island.
Our protagonist Lou, played by Rebecca Breeds, is an actress from Australia working in Hollywood. Well, not working at the moment. A failed actress, in her own eyes. But to her family back in a small town on Kangaroo Island she’s a big star. Not just that, she’s a hoity toity big timer.
Lou visits home, a world away. Initially, she’s greeted by her terminally ill father, her religious sister and a flood of bittersweet memories from her recent past on the island. Her new life as a struggling actor clashes with her old one, a surfer girl from down under.
Photo Courtesy: Falko Ink.
She doesn’t see eye to eye with her sister and her Christian zeal. Then, a past lover emerges. And her father is dying. As a result, the homecoming is a messy affair.
So how does one bridge the gap between past and present? Home and away? Australia and Hollywood? What if you’re stuck in a liminal space between the two options? Lou doesn’t quite feel at home in either her old or new world.
Kangaroo Island is a quiet, family drama catching the small waves in life. But where the film really gets its edge is Lou. She’s sarcastic and funny. She’s kind and tragic. She can’t stop wallowing in her own despair and a bottle of beer. Yet she can’t stop loving her family despite the massive distance between them in every sense of the word.
In a pivotal scene, Lou confronts her sister because of the sister’s impropriety and betrayal. It’s an explosive argument that draws the whole family in. As it happens, they’re all in flip flops and swimsuits primed for fun beach activities. The lowkey, homey setting of a beach alcove with the family as the backdrop of a familial screaming match sums up the film pretty well.
Maybe life isn’t about closing the space between your worlds, folding them onto one another. Or letting one drift away while clinging to the other. Rather, Lou must learn to exist in both worlds. This seems to be the thesis of Lou’s journey. Kangaroo Island is a nice, little drama with its powerful moments, yet can feel slight in its entirety.
Kangaroo Island hits theaters April 24.
Watch the trailer here.
