Australian director David Michod's The Rover -- a follow up to his 2010 debut Animal Kingdom -- debuted last night at the Palais, and it was met with positive reviews, notably for the two lead actors Guy Pearce and Robert Pattinson, whom many think stole the show.
Set in a post-apocalyptic Australia, The Rover is about one man's (Pearce) quest to retrieve his car from a group of robbers and exact revenge. One of the robber's, an American played very convincingly by Robert Pattinson, may have been left for dead by his brother and the others and is taken hostage by Pearce's character.
While the film is reminiscent of George Miller's Mad Max, the film is not action packed, but as Scott Foundas of Variety writes, the film has a "more somber, introspective tone" and has "a desolate beauty all it's own". He even gave much praise to Pattinson, citing a "career re-defining performance that reveals untold depths of sensitivity".
Pearce also received praise for his role as Eric, with The Hollywood Reporter saying that the actor "commands attention" and "gives Eric all the cold-hearted remorselessness of a classic Western or film-noir anti-hero". They all praised the cinematography of Natasha Braier -- which was shot on film, not digitally -- as "superior" and Antony Partos' score as "both hypnotic and disturbing... it magnifies and enhances the already intense nature of the experience".
According to Variety, the film will be released by the upstart U.S. indie comapny A24 on June 13 simultaneous to Oz release via Roadshow.
