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Mystery Road is a 2013 Australian crime thriller film directed by Ivan Sen, starring Aaron Pedersen, Hugo Weaving, and Ryan Kwanten. The film follows Jay Swan (Pedersen), an Indigenous detective who is assigned to investigate the murder of a young girl in a remote town in outback Queensland. As he delves deeper into the case, he uncovers corruption and racial tension within the local community.

The film begins with an aerial shot of the Australian outback, as a lone car drives along a deserted road. The car belongs to Detective Jay Swan, who has been transferred to the small town of Winton to investigate the murder of a teenage Indigenous girl. He arrives at the local police station and is met by the jovial Sergeant Tommy (Kwanten), who introduces him to the rest of the small team, which includes the experienced Senior Sergeant Ray Lorkin (Weaving).

As Jay begins his investigation, he faces hostility and suspicion from both the local police and the town's Indigenous community. He also discovers a web of corruption and violence within the town, involving drug trafficking, prostitution, and exploitation of Aboriginal labor. As he digs deeper, he realizes that the murder may not be an isolated incident, but part of a larger conspiracy involving the powerful local landowners.

The film is notable for its stark portrayal of the harsh Australian outback and its accurate depiction of the realities of Indigenous life in rural Australia. It also features strong performances from its lead actors, particularly Pedersen as the stoic and enigmatic Jay Swan. Weaving is also excellent as the jaded and world-weary Ray Lorkin, while Kwanten provides some much-needed comic relief as the affable and naive Sergeant Tommy.

One of the most striking aspects of the film is its use of silence and stillness to create a sense of tension and foreboding. The vast, empty landscape is often shown in long shots, with the characters dwarfed by their surroundings. The silence is broken only by the sound of the wind and the occasional bird call, creating a sense of isolation and emptiness.

The film also uses a muted color palette, with the dusty browns and grays of the outback complementing the somber mood of the story. This is contrasted with occasional bursts of color, such as the bright yellow shirt worn by a young Aboriginal girl in one scene. These flashes of color serve to highlight the beauty and diversity of Indigenous culture, which is often overlooked in mainstream Australian society.

Overall, Mystery Road is a powerful and thought-provoking film that tackles issues of race, corruption, and social justice in contemporary Australia. Its strong performances, striking visual style, and gritty realism make it a must-watch for fans of Australian cinema and crime thrillers.

Mystery Road is a 2013 thriller with a runtime of 2 hours and 2 minutes. It has received mostly positive reviews from critics and viewers, who have given it an IMDb score of 6.6 and a MetaScore of 72.