Suburban Mayhem (2006)

User Rating:

5.8/10   

Director:

Paul Goldman

Writer:

Alice Bell (written by)

Release Date:

26 October 2006 (Australia)

Genre:

Drama

Tagline:

There are some things in life you can't control. Fame. Lust. Murder . . . And Katrina.

Plot:

Why does a 19 year-old girl plot to kill her own father? Katrina Skinner is stuck in suburbia with her toddler daughter and her devoted dad...

Plot Keywords:

Murder | Mayhem | Suburb | Fractured Narrative | Family Relationships

Awards:

8 wins & 13 nominations

Cast

Emily Barclay	...	Katrina Skinner
Steve Bastoni	...	Detective Andretti
Laurence Breuls	...	Danny
Michael Dorman	...	Rusty
Anthony Hayes	...	Kenny
Geneviève Lemon	...	Auntie Dianne
Robert Morgan	...	John Skinner
Susan Prior	...	Christine Andretti
Mia Wasikowska	...	Lilya
Lawrence Aitchson	...	Welfare Man (as Lawrence Aitchison)
Rod Ansell	...	Angry Neighbour
Christine Armstrong	...	Defence Lawyer
Phillip Ayoub	...	Sergeant Harris
Callan Boys	...	Random Guy
Nigel Castellum	...	Junior Policeman

MPAA:

Rated R for strong sexual content, pervasive language, some violence and drug use.

Runtime:

Australia:95 min | UK:89 min | Canada:90 min (Toronto International Film Festival)

Country:

Australia

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Certification:

UK:15 | Australia:MA | New Zealand:R16 | France:-12 | USA:R

Filming Locations:

Maitland Gaol, Maitland, New South Wales, Australia

Company:

Australian Film Finance Corporation (AFFC)

Trivia:

Alice Bell was Emily Barclay's body double for the film. Driving, texting and snorting cornflour instead of speed.

Quotes:

Rusty: What's going on here? Is he going to kill your dad for you? Is that what you and him is about?
Katrina: I don't know what you're talking about. You're crazy.
Rusty: I'm crazy? You're having sex with a disabled!

Movie Connections:

Features "Mr. Squiggle and Friends" (1959)

Soundtrack:

Devil Song

Can you say irony?

Katrina is 19 with a neglected toddler, a lipstick-smeared pout and a bad attitude. Her brother's in jail for murder and her dad's fed up with her bludging off him to finance a life that revolves around the beauty salon, bourbon and blow jobs. Soon she, too, is plotting a murder, which may or may not involve her sweet mechanic boyfriend Rusty or her brother's best mate, Kenny, a dropkick with a sadistic streak. In fact, every man she knows becomes a drooling idiot as soon as she unzips her micro-mini denim skirt. It's a juicy role and Emily Barclay attacks it with relish, making this vile steamroller of a sexpot almost likable. But her brash performance is also the movie's fatal flaw: Hurricane Katrina has it all her own way. Everyone else is too stupid or too nice to stand up to her. We've seen this character before, but Dede Truitt in The Opposite Of Sex and Suzanne Stone in To Die For weren't just bad to the bone, they were better written. Still, like that other wild ride through westie wasteland, Idiot Box, this is a bold, blackly funny picture of the Australia most of us live in, full of noisy energy and visual flair, and for that it deserves a big thumbs-up.