allegory’.That promisesthat its visionof sufferingwill be
drivenby adeepermessage (in this case, regardingvio-
lence againstwomen).
I’ll be honest:if the film is intendedas an allegory,I’m not
preciselysure what it’s an allegoryfor. It’s a representationof
domesticabuse,certainly;Queree’scharacter,who’s mentally
ill (critic AlexandraHeller-Nicholasidentifieshim as having
schizophrenia,^14 a readingsupportedby the film’s synopsis),
subjectshis daughterto emotional,verbaland physicalag-
gression,perpetuatinga demoralisingcycle of beratingand
gaslighting.There’salso the suggestionof sexualabuse,re -
inforcedby the sexuallycharged confessional conversations,
but this remainsimplicit.
WhileReflectionsin the Dustis a chillingrepresenta-
tion of an abusivedomesticsituation,I’m not convinced
that it transcendsthe boundsof representationto proffer
a meaningfulcommentaryon domesticviolence.This isn’t
necessarilya problemin and of itself. Films aren’t required
to be more than what they are; a sophisticated,surrealistic
depictionof toxic masculinity– whichthis is, despitemy
quibblesabout its lack of emotionalnuance!– is a worthy
project.And perhapsit’s unfair to judge Sullivan’s workby
its overreachingpublicitymaterial.
I think the film’s failure to meaningfullyarticulatehow dom-
estic violenceoperates– the powerdynamics,the influence
of mentalillness,the texturesof co-dependency– or extrapo-
late from its centralcouple’ssituationto a broadersocietal
issue speaksto why it ultimatelyunderwhelmedme. Sullivan’s
attemptsto justify his work’sallegoricalunderpinningsin inter-
views fall back on statisticsaboutmen’sviolenceagainst
womenin Australia.Theseare disturbing,yes, and I would
agree with Sullivan’sclaim that this situationis becominga
‘nationalemergency[and] Australianeedsto becomea safer
place for women’.^15 But these concernsare largelydiscon-
nectedfrom the film’s very specificsettingand story.
Disconnectionis really at the heart ofReflectionsin the
Dust’s problems.As much as I’ve focusedon what doesn’t
work about the film, it’s importantto acknowledgeits suc-
cessfulcomponents:the settingand the centralrelationship.
Thesemight be immiscibleelements– the denatured,decon-
textualisedoutbackobviatingSullivan’sattemptsto offer
social commentaryregardingabusiverelationshipsas that
very relationshipdrawsattentionaway from said setting– but
each is individuallypotent.The setting,in particular,lingers
in the memorylong after seeingthe film; somethingabout its
ambiguousincompletenessleavesone’s brain striving to fill
in the gaps, to populateits arcanedreamscape.
The father–daughterrelationship,meanwhile,lives or dies
on its actors’performances.While the senseof place,the
filmmakingand pretty much every stylisticchoicerepelsthe
audiencefrom these characters,there’sa core of authen-
ticity – thanksin large part to Quereeand Houboult– that
resonateseven as thematicanalysisfalters.Even if Sullivan’s
film ultimatelydisappointedme, there’s something enigmatic,
somethingmagnetic, about it.
Reflectionsin the Dustmay not quite be the film that
its publicityteam’semail promised.It’s not controversial,
nor especiallyextreme,and it fails to make its case as an
allegory.It’s hard to hold that againstthe film proper,even
as its publicityhas shapedits criticalconversation.But,
while its directormight stretchhis intentionsa tad (as young
directors^16 are wont to do), his ambitionand originalityare
undeniable. This might not be the film it wants to be, but it
does show real promisefor Sullivan’snascentfilmmaking
career – if he can avoid real controversy in the future.https://www.thebacklotfilms.com/works/
reflections-in-the-dustDaveCreweis a secondaryschoolteacherandfreelancewriter
basedin Brisbane,Queensland.Heis thefounderandeditor
of thewebsiteccpopculture, andhasbeenpublishedbySBS
Movies,Screen Education,The GuardianandThe Big Issue. mEndnotes(^1) EmailreceivedfromTheBacklotFilmsdated 19 February2019.
(^2) See,forexample,Reflectionsin the Dust’s pageonRotten
Tomatoes,https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/reflections
_in_the_dust, accessed22 May 2019.
(^3) It is idlyinterestingto notethedifferencesbetweenthesynop-
sisI receivedviaemail(whichwassubsequentlyreproduced
on the aforementionedwebsites)and the correspondingsyn-
opsisusedbyScreenAustralia.Thelattereschewstheword
‘extreme’andavoidsanyallusionsto fundingcontroversies;see
‘Reflectionsin the Dust’, TheScreenGuide,ScreenAustralia
website,https://www.screenaustralia.gov.au/the-screen
-guide/t/reflections-in-the-dust-2019/36917/, accessed
22 May 2019.
(^4) Reinforcedbytherepeatedappearanceof Christianiconog-
raphy– all the shotsof baptisms,crossesand crucifixes recall
Luis Buñuel’saffinityfor Christiansymbols.
(^5) LukeSullivan,quotedin DovKornits& TravisJohnson,‘Luke
Sullivanand SarahHoubolt:ReflectingonReflectionsin the
Dust’,FilmInk, 25 July 2018,https://www.filmink.com.au/luke
-sullivan-sarah-houbolt-reflecting-reflections-dust/, accessed
22 May 2019.
(^6) ‘Reflectionsin the Dust’, TheBacklotFilmswebsite,https://
[http://www.thebacklotfilms.com/works/reflections-in-the-dust,](http://www.thebacklotfilms.com/works/reflections-in-the-dust>,)
accessed22 May 2019.
(^7) SeeDavidPaicu,‘InterviewwithLukeSullivan/Refections[sic]
in the Dust’,Film in Revolt, 13 March2019,https://www.film
inrevolt.org/interview-with-luke-sullivan-refections-in-the-dust/,
accessed22 May 2019.
(^8) LukeSullivan,quotedin Paicu,ibid.
(^9) Formoreontheatre-makerBertoltBrecht’sideasonthe
separationof audiencefromwork,see‘AlienationEffect’,
EncyclopædiaBritannica, https://www.britannica.com/art/
alienation-effect, accessed22 May 2019.
(^10) ‘Reflectionsin the Dust’, TheBacklotFilmswebsite,op.cit.
(^11) DaveCrewe,‘LadyKillers:Houndsof Love, Horrorand
ViolenceAgainstWomen’,Metro, no. 193, 2017,pp. 12–7.
(^12) See, for example,MaryAnnJohanson,‘Houndsof LoveMovie
Review:Serial-killerPorn’,Flick Filosopher, 27 July 2017,https://
[http://www.flickfilosopher.com/2017/07/hounds-love-movie-review](http://www.flickfilosopher.com/2017/07/hounds-love-movie-review)
-serial-killer-porn.html, accessed22 May 2019.
(^13) Sullivan,quotedin Paicu,op.cit.
(^14) AlexandraHeller-Nicholas,‘Reflectionsin the Dust’,Allianceof
WomenFilm Journalists, 21 February2019,https://awfj.org/
blog/2019/02/21/reflections-in-the-dust-review-by-alexandra
-heller-nicholas/, accessed22 May 2019.
(^15) Luke Sullivan,quotedin MatthewEeles,‘Interview:Luke Sullivan’,
CinemaAustralia, 14 October2018,https://cinemaaustralia.
com.au/2018/10/14/interview-luke-sullivan/, accessed
22 May 2019.
(^16) Sullivanwas twenty-threeyears old at the time of the film’s
release; see Eeles, ibid.
http://www.metromagazine.com.au | © ATOM | Metro Magazine 201• 33