There isn't a hell of a lot of Aussie horror films that pique people's interest every year. We've got some bangers like Wolf Creek and The Loved Ones, but we're certainly not known for producing high-octane slasher flicks all the time like Hollywood.
Well, it seems like there is one that is causing a particular stir at the Sydney Film Festival; so much so that people have walked out en masse within the first 20 minutes.
Disgusted audience members walked out of The Nightingale at the Randwick Ritz theatre, according to the Daily Mail and judging by the trailer, it's not hard to imagine why.
The trailer shows an innocent looking woman being preyed upon by a group of men and this is precisely why people walked out.
The character is 21-year-old Irish convict Clare, played by Aisling Franciosi, who watches her husband and baby be murdered before she's raped by several men in very graphic scenes.
She then sets course across Tasmania and recruits an Indigenous man to help her track the blokes that did that to her.
According to news.com.au, one woman in the audience screamed: "She's already been raped, we don't need to see it again."
Once that hearty introduction to the film was over, there were several more violent scenes where more babies and Indigenous people were killed and apparently there were a few more rapes.
Critics have been split on the film, with some praising it for its ownership of a violent story while others reckon it goes too far.
We Live Entertainment's Scott Menzel wrote: "I don't think that any review can mentally, physically, or emotionally prepare you for what Kent has brought to life with this film. The Nightingale is a very difficult watch but packs quite an emotional punch."
Los Angeles Times' Justin Chang added: "Both a canny fulfillment and a skillful subversion of the conventions of the revenge thriller, the picture becomes a touch overextended in its final stretches but is nonetheless sustained by the coherence and intense muscularity of its filmmaking."
However the New York Post's Johnny Oleksinski was a bit more scathing, writing: "Vacuum-packing a nonstop supply of rapes, deaths and beatings into more than two hours is needlessly punishing, and comes at the expense of character and story.
Director Jennifer Kent, who also was in charge of The Babadook, admitted it was incredibly difficult filming some of those scenes. She says she cried all the way through the post-production process as well.
Despite several people walking out, there was a 'sustained' round of applause when the film finished.
The Nightingale will be released in Australia in August.
Featured Image Credit: IFC FilmsTopics: Entertainment, TV and Film, Australia