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5.5/10
Senior Film Conservator
A definitive 5.5/10 rating for a film that redefined the boundaries of cult cinema. The Squatter's Daughter remains a cornerstone of transgressive art.
If you have a soft spot for 1930s Australian cinema, sure, watch it. It’s got that weird, stilted charm that only movies from that era seem to possess. If you hate slow pacing or actors who talk like they’re reciting a manifesto every time they ask for a cup of tea, stay far, far away. 🐑
Honestly, the whole thing feels like a stage play that someone decided to film just to see what would happen. There is a lot of standing around. A whole lot of it.
I wasn't prepared for the sheer volume of sheep. There are scenes that just go on for minutes, showing sheep milling about, doing nothing in particular, while the characters look intensely at a fence. It feels less like a movie and more like a very low-budget documentary about wool production.
Constance Worth is doing her best to carry the emotional weight of the film, and she’s fine. But man, the dialogue is just dreadful sometimes. It’s all “Father, you mustn’t!” and “I shall marry whom I please!”
It’s the kind of script that doesn't let a single emotion breathe without announcing it out loud to the entire room.
It definitely lacks the snappy energy of something like Put Up Your Hands!, which manages to get its point across without needing ten minutes of livestock footage. This movie is stuck in its own head, trying so hard to be a Serious Drama about land and honor.
At one point, I realized I hadn't looked at my phone in twenty minutes, not because I was gripped by the plot, but because I was trying to figure out if the leading man was actually wearing a fake mustache. I think he was. It’s slightly crooked in the second act.
It is not a masterpiece, but it’s a weirdly honest look at a time when people made movies just because they had some cameras and a big field. That’s enough for me, I guess. 🎬
