It is quite enjoyable as a critic to be given the task of writing a review for a movie you didn’t have plans of watching. One such case was 2021’s “The Dry,” a tense and somber drama/thriller adapted from the first in a series of novels by Jane Harper which was quite successful. Yet it starred Eric Bana as Melbourne cop Aaron Falk who relocated to his home town and gets embroiled in a web of intrigues. But “Force of Nature: The Dry 2,” adapted from the sequel to the second book in Harper’s “Aaron Falk” trilogy, still directed by Connolly, does not comprehend its own intricacies and struggles to engage with its own narrative. The Dry 2 does not mean what it says. The term should not imply that it depicts an installment; rather it is intended as a stand-alone story with Aaron as an ancillary character. The film is tastefully constructed and effectively acted but simply put: It provides Sakharov with a lot of depth, but it does not deliver on that promise.
The idea has somewhere to go. Five women embark on a business retreat that includes a hike through the rainforest to strengthen their cohesiveness in the workplace (or something like that). Only four women make it out of the rainforest. Each woman has a different version of the unfortunate trip in the wilderness, and all of them want to avoid talking about the reason why one of them is missing. A body arrives at a scene concerned with the particular professional and personal Argentinean detective who goes by the name Aaron and is accompanied by his partner Carmen (Jacqueline McKenzie). On several aspects, ‘case’ has some context to Aaron.
Another Australian film can serve as an immediate touchstone, that is Peter Weir’s “Picnic at Hanging Rock,” in which a picnic attended by two girls with their teacher ends with a catastrophic trace the girls seem to have gone missing. A great many psychological novels do obtain this macabre mood. An excellent example is Margaret Atwood’s “Death by Landscape.” It is worth mentioning that saying the characters in these stories die by “death by landscape” would be accurate in the sense that the setting is so challenging, whether physically or metaphorically, that it engulfs people completely. The region portrayed in “The Dry” was drought stricken but tranquil. The one in “Force of Nature” on the other hand, was lush, cluttered and draped with moss. Both landscapes demand a lot from the poor men who have dared to enter them. Andrew Commas’ camera voyeuristically records the rainforest in its wholeness and bewilderment.
The movie “Force of Nature” is a great action-packed fiction movie starring some great cast with American filmmakers like Jane Daniel, Eric Lin, Tom Voss, etc. Jill (Debora Lee Furness) is the leader, is high ranked in the company, and is married to the founder. Lauren (Robin McLeay) plays the role of Alice’s eldest sister, although it is rather uncertain and clearly has not been established. Having two sets of sisters working at the same company is a stretch, but never mind. The fiery temper of the group, Alice, stars Anna Tor as the character herself. She’s not most loved in the film. As the women stray off course and get frustratingly off target, there is a lot of time wasted as they all rush to blame one another, causing the situation to escalate. These series are very interesting especially because of the striking resemblance to “Picnic at Hanging Rock”: What happened to Alice? Where has she disappeared to?
The women on the retreat would be more than enough in one movie, but “Force of Nature” shows no boundaries and goes beyond all expectations. Alice, impersonated by one of Aaron’s Recruiters (the most underused Jacqueline McKenzie), is reported to be watching over the company of her partner’s during investigation regarding Financial Crimes. She is believed to be working under cover, unknowing, but Aaron is aware of some underhand activities in play. And there is more to follow here.
As a young boy, Aaron lost his mother on a family outing in the same jungle. I picture her laying there somewhere while Alice, poor Alice, matures on her own. His face is constantly lost in reminiscence as the picture evolves. The trestle runs on three tracks. They see Aaron and Carmen interrogating the four female witnesses. We move to the recall of the very hike. We move back further in time to young Aaron (Archie Thomson) at the same theme park with his parents Jeremy Lindsey Taylor and Ash Ricardo. (A fact that could be considered central to understanding The Dry but is never mentioned in it is the disappearance of Aaron’s mother.) The film’s emotional trajectory is ruined by these episodes colliding with one another. This is an unobtrusive approach, as the filmmakers intended.
“A’ pas pour Mole” sorted out a plot problem as well: Aaron is obsessed by haunting memories of the past and is preoccupied by the melancholy of present reality. It was a very intimate adventure and very effective whodunit at the same time. “Noailles Yore” earns a lot of buzz about What happened to Alice? And the actors guess, further to the mystery. There are reasonable grounds for each character’s wish to have Alice out of the way. Who did it? This mystery may have saved the film till the very end, were it not for all this other crap, which was less than helpful.
For more movies like Force of Nature: The Dry 2 visit 123Movies.