''Suburban Mayhem'' is a 2006 Australian comedy thriller film directed by Paul Goldman and written by Alice Bell. Starring

Emily Barclay Emily Barclay Ward (born 24 October 1984) is a British-born New Zealand and Australian AFI award winning actress. Career Emily Barclay was born in Plymouth to a General practitioner and a landscape designer, and raised in Auckland, New Zealan ...

, Michael Dorman, Anthony Hayes, Robert Morgan, Steve Bastoni, Mia Wasikowska and Genevieve Lemon, the film follows Katrina Skinner (Barclay), a 19-year-old single mother with a long history of petty crimes who plots to murder her father John (Morgan) after he threatens to take custody of her child away from her due to her wild lifestyle and negligent behaviour. ''Suburban Mayhem'' premiered at

Cannes Film Festival The Cannes Film Festival (; ), until 2003 called the International Film Festival ('), is the most prestigious film festival in the world. Held in Cannes, France, it previews new films of all genres, including documentaries, from all around ...

on 24 May 2006, where it was nominated for the

Un Certain Regard (; 'A Certain Glance') is a section of the Cannes Film Festival's official selection. It is run at the Debussy, parallel to the competition for the . This section was introduced in 1978 by Gilles Jacob. The section presents 20 films with unusua ...

. The film was theatrically released in Australia on 26 October 2006, to negative reviews from critics and was a box office failure, grossing $184,902 against its $4 million production budget. Despite this, it received a leading 12 nominations at the 2006 Australian Film Institute Awards, including Best Direction for Goldman,

Best Original Screenplay The Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay is the Academy Award (also known as an Oscar) for the best screenplay not based upon previously published material. It was created in 1940 as a separate writing award from the Academy Award for Best ...

for Bell, and Best Supporting Actress for Lemon, and won three, for Best Actress for Barclay, Best Supporting Actor for Hayes, and Best Original Music Score for

Mick Harvey Michael John Harvey (born 29 August 1958) is an Australian musician, singer-songwriter, composer, arranger and record producer. A multi-instrumentalist, he is best known for his long-term collaborations with Nick Cave, with whom he formed The ...

Plot

Katrina is a 19-year-old single mother with sinister plans. She navigates a world rife with petty crime, fast cars, manicures, and casual relationships. A skilled manipulator of men, Katrina resides with her lethargic father in the suburban area of Golden Grove, Sydney. Determined to get her way, Katrina will even resort to murder. When her father contemplates reaching out to Social Services to take custody of her child, she devises a plan that will not only cause chaos in the suburb but also catapult her to a level of infamy beyond her wildest expectations. The story is loosely inspired by the heinous crimes committed by

Mark Valera Mark Valera (previously Mark van Krevel) (born 24 April 1979) is an Australia, Australian murderer who was convicted in 2000 of the murders of David O'Hearn and Frank Arkell in Wollongong, New South Wales. Valera handed himself into police after ...

, who was responsible for the deaths of Frank Arkell and David O'Hearn. Additionally, it draws parallels with his sister, Belinda van Krevel, and her then-partner Keith Schreiber, who were involved in the murder of Jack van Krevel.

Cast

as Katrina * Michael Dorman as Rusty * Anthony Hayes as Kenny * Robert Morgan as John * Genevieve Lemon as Dianne * Laurence Breuls as Danny * Steve Bastoni as Detective Robert Andretti * Mia Wasikowska as Lilya *

Susan Prior Susan Prior is an Australian actress. Early life and education Susan Prior graduated from the National Institute of Dramatic Art in Sydney. Career Prior has worked extensively with the Sydney Theatre Company, including '' Riflemind'', as we ...

as Christine Andretti

Festivals

* 2006 –

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

–

* 2006 –

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

–

Melbourne International Film Festival The Melbourne International Film Festival (MIFF) is an annual film festival held over three weeks in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. It was founded in 1952 and is one of the oldest film festivals in the world following the founding of the Venic ...

* 2006 –

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

–

Toronto International Film Festival The Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF, often stylized as tiff) is one of the most prestigious and largest publicly attended film festivals in the world. Founded in 1976, the festival takes place every year in early September. The organi ...

Awards

Won: * 2006 Australian Writers Guild: Best Original Feature Film (Alice Bell). * 2006

Inside Film Awards The IF Awards, formerly known as the Inside Film Awards, Lexus Inside Film Awards, Kodak IF Awards, and Jameson IF Awards, was an annual awards ceremony and broadcast platform for the Australian film industry. Its name derives from its origins at ...

: Best Actress (

), Best Music, Best Editing. * 2006

Australian Film Institute Awards The Australian Academy of Cinema and Television Arts Awards, known as the AACTA Awards, are presented annually by the Australian Academy of Cinema and Television Arts (AACTA). The awards recognise excellence in the film and television industr ...

: Best Original Music Score (

) * 2006

: Best Lead Actress (

) * 2006

: Best Supporting Actor ( Anthony Hayes) Nominated: * 2006

: Best Direction (Paul Goldman), Best Supporting Actress ( Genevieve Lemon), AFI Young Actor Award (Mia Wasikowska), Best Original Screenplay (Alice Bell), Best Editing, Best Production Design, Best Costume Design, Best Sound. * 2006

: Best Feature Film, Best Director, Best Script.

Reception

Box office

''Suburban Mayhem'' grossed $342,600 at the box office in Australia.

Critical reception

''Suburban Mayhem'' has received mixed reviews from critics. On

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review aggregator, review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee ...

, the film has a "rotten" rating of 20%, based on 5 reviews, with an average rating of 4/10. Film scholar Bruno Starrs has critiqued the film with regard to Barbara Creed's notion of the "maternal feminine" monster.Starrs, D. Bruno (2006) The maternal monster in 'Suburban Mayhem'. Metro Magazine (151):pp. 22–2

/ref>

References

External links

* *
''Suburban Mayhem''
at the

National Film and Sound Archive The National Film and Sound Archive of Australia (NFSA), known as ScreenSound Australia from 1999 to 2004, is Australia's audiovisual archive, responsible for developing, preserving, maintaining, promoting, and providing access to a national c ...

{{AACTAAward BestMusicScore 2000-2019 2006 films 2006 comedy-drama films Australian comedy-drama films Australian black comedy films Australian independent films Films set in Australia Films shot in Australia 2006 independent films 2000s English-language films English-language independent films English-language comedy-drama films

Plot

Cast

Festivals

Awards

Reception

Box office

Critical reception

See also

References

External links