''Landfall'' is a 2017 Australian thriller film directed by Travis Bain. The film follows young couple Dylan and Maisie's attempts to survive a

home invasion A home invasion, also called a hot prowl burglary, is a sub-type of burglary (or in some jurisdictions, a separately defined crime) in which an offender unlawfully enters into a building residence while the occupants are inside. The overarching i ...

that occurs in the midst of a

tropical cyclone A tropical cyclone is a rapidly rotating storm system with a low-pressure area, a closed low-level atmospheric circulation, strong winds, and a spiral arrangement of thunderstorms that produce heavy rain and squalls. Depending on its locat ...

. The film premiered on November 26, 2017, in

Melbourne Melbourne ( , ; Boonwurrung language, Boonwurrung/ or ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city of the States and territories of Australia, Australian state of Victori ...

, Australia, and was released on January 27, 2018.

Synopsis

A young couple in tropical Australia is trapped in their home by three fugitives carrying a mysterious icebox containing unknown contents, and they must rely on their wits and cunning to survive as a severe tropical cyclone looms.

Cast

* Rob Stanfield as Dyan * Kristen Condon as Maisie * Daryl Heath as "Paul" * Bailey Stevenson as "Ringo" * Andy Bramble as "George" * Vernon Wells as Constable Wexler * Anthony Ring as Constable Grace *

Tony Bonner Anthony Frederick Bonner (born 23 November 1943) is an Australian television, film, and stage actor and singer. Bonner became famous in the 1960s children's television series ''Skippy the Bush Kangaroo'', later moving on to lead roles in th ...

as Trevor (father at Number 17) * Shawn Brack as Kevin (son at Number 17) * Dell Beckman as Gordo

Production

''Landfall'' was largely shot in and around one location, a rented beachfront home in

Innisfail, Queensland Innisfail (from Irish language, Irish: Inis Fáil) is a regional town and Suburbs and localities (Australia), locality in the Cassowary Coast Region, Queensland, Australia. The town was originally called Geraldton until 1910. In the , the town o ...

Principal photography Principal photography is the phase of producing a film or television show in which the bulk of shooting takes place, as distinct from the phases of pre-production and post-production. Personnel Besides the main film personnel, such as the ...

took place over four weeks in two two-week blocks, with the first block based on Vernon Wells' schedule and the second block used to film scenes not requiring Wells. All cyclone sequences and weather effects were a mix of

practical effect In filmmaking a practical effect is a special effect produced physically, without computer-generated imagery or other post-production techniques. In some contexts, "special effect" is used as a synonym of "practical effect", in contrast to "vi ...

s and CGI

special effects Special effects (often abbreviated as F/X or simply FX) are illusions or visual tricks used in the theatre, film, television, video game, amusement park and simulator industries to simulate the fictional events in a story or virtual world. ...

. Physical

debris Debris (, ) is rubble, wreckage, ruins, litter and discarded waste, garbage/refuse/trash, scattered remains of something destroyed, or, as in geology, large rock fragments left by a melting glacier, etc. Depending on context, ''debris'' can ref ...

was thrown at actors during shots, with CGI used to depict the cyclone itself. The film was partly financed via a Regional Arts Fund grant and partly crowdfunded.

Release

MultiVisionnaire Pictures acquired rest-of-world distribution rights for the film and released it globally on various streaming platforms in 2020. A special edition region 1 DVD with director's commentary and other special features was released in North America in March 2020.

Reception and awards

Dan Cachia of the ''Mr. Movie's Film Blog'' considered the film to be one of the best "

Aussie Australians, colloquially known as Aussies, are the citizens, nationals and individuals associated with the country of Australia. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or ethno-cultural. For most Australians, these connection ...

genre" films of 2017 and heavily praised its dialogue. Simon Foster, though critical of the "increasingly convoluted" plot, similarly described the dialogue as " Tarantino-esque" and favorably compared the film to Schumacher's ''Trespass'', commending especially the performances of Heath, Condon, and Stevenson. ''Landfall'' was selected to open the 2018 Oz International Film Festival (Melbourne) and won in the categories of Best Feature, Best Director (Travis Bain), Best Actor (Vernon Wells), Best Actress (Kristen Condon), and Best Supporting Actor (Tony Bonner). The film won the ASIN Award for Best Director (Travs Bain) and Certificate of Highest Achievement for Best Composer (Samantha Van Der Sluis) and Best Feature Film at the 2018 Australian Screen Industry Network Awards (Brisbane). ''Landfall'' won in the categories of Best Picture, Best Director (Travis Bain), Best Actor (Vernon Wells), and Best Sound (Samantha Van Der Sluis) at the 2019 Low to No Film Festival in

Vegas Las Vegas, colloquially referred to as Vegas, is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Nevada and the county seat of Clark County. The Las Vegas Valley metropolitan area is the largest within the greater Mojave Desert, and second-larg ...

References

External links

* * {{Facebook, landfallmovie 2017 films 2017 thriller films 2017 independent films Australian thriller films Films set in Queensland Films shot in Queensland Films about home invasion 2010s English-language films English-language independent films English-language thriller films