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Film noir concerns itself with murder and double-crossing. Great films of this genre include Double Indemnity, Body Heat and Blood Simple. There have been reams of paper dedicated to the genre and how it has evolved over the years. Now the Australians are throwing their hats into the ring with the thrilling The Square.

The story begins with adultery. Ray (David Roberts) is in love with Clara (Claire van der Boom). The problem is that both of them are married to someone else. Another little problem is that Clara’s husband Smithy (Anthony Hayes) is a crook who has just made a big score. Clara sees the hidden money as a way she and Ray can escape. They devise a plan. Burn down Clara’s house but take out all the cash first. That way Smithy thinks that his ill gotten gains were gone with the ashes and flames. Ray contracts Billy (Joel Edgerton) to do the job. But an unexpected event happens and a simple arson becomes a more nefarious crime. Back at the office, Ray receives a note demanding money. Someone is blackmailing Ray, someone knows too much. Smithy almost instantly figures out that the money was taken before the fire and suspects his gang. “The Square” refers to the construction project that Ray is developing and to the characters being trapped in a box that they cannot escape from.

There is just so much to like with a movie like The Square. The way the film flows from scene to scene is just wonderful. One truly gets a sense of being trapped both by the land and the situations. Director Nash Edgerton finds that perfect balance between creating tension and delving out significant information. He makes this a tightrope walk of a production. His use of Steadicam just captures all that is desperate about the lives of the characters.

Claire van der Boom stuns as the put upon wife. A known television actress in the land down-under, here she is our trapped bird, yearning to be free, trying every way she can to make it happen. This role should get her noticed by American casting directors. She leaves a strong impression in this male dominated flick.

Joel Edgerton also takes what should have been a stock character and turns it into something a bit more vulnerable and powerful. Even though he is a ‘bad guy’ he’s never a bad person. There is a humanity in the performance.

The Square does have a few problems. I did find the accents on the rough side, making it a bit hard to follow the story line. Even though the film is English, Aussie spoken dialects do run with a different meter. At times, it was just a bit too hard to follow. The other disappointment was that one of the big twists at the end really wasn’t that much of a surprise, especially in the wake of all the noir flicks that have preceded it.

In the final analysis, The Square is such a fun little flick to watch. While not a perfect film, it is a great piece of entertainment. It deserves all the accolades it has generated over the year, including Australian Academy Award nominations.

As an added bonus, the film opens with the short work Spider. This nine minute gem of a prank gone wrong has been shown around the world in theaters and on the Internet. Over the last year, it has been featured in different film festivals. It has won many awards and gives one a taste of the shorter works by the Brothers Edgerton.

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