There must be something that entices filmmakers to explore the Outback. Whether it’s the post-apocalyptic world of Mad Max, trying to survive in Walkabout, going on a journey to hell in Wake in Fright, or overcoming your personal demons in Tracks, the opportunities for stories in the dry landscapes of Australia seem to be as vast as the lands themselves. And now, first-time director Kim Farrant takes a stab at using the Outback as an all-encompassing setting in Strangerland. It’s a film that tries to compare the plight of characters in an intense crisis with the desert surrounding them, but it’s a connection that feels redundant; the film is as dry, empty and unwelcoming as the land it’s set in.

The Parker family are anything but perfect. Having recently moved from the city to the (fictional) rural town of Nathgari, it’s evident that some sort of scandal prompted their uprooting (the reason for their move turns out to be a total snooze). Catherine (Nicole Kidman) and Matthew (Joseph Fiennes) have a frayed marriage—they don’t sleep in the same bed, he refuses to have sex with her—while their two teenage children Tommy (Nicholas Hamilton) and Lily (Maddison Brown) love getting into trouble. Tommy has a tendency to walk around town in the middle of the night when he can’t sleep, but it’s 15-year-old Lily’s strong sexual appetite that causes the most friction between Catherine and (especially) Matthew. After a heated argument at the dinner table, Tommy and Lily wander off into the night, except neither of them come back the next day. With a giant dust storm coming through town Catherine panics, enlisting the help of local cop Rae (Hugo Weaving) to find her children, and Matthew channels his own concerns into seething, impotent rage.

As time goes on and the kids’ whereabouts remain unknown, it’s apparent that Farrant and screenwriters Fiona Seres and Michael Kinirons have taken a page out of Antonioni’s book (or, to keep it Australian, Peter Weir’s). The big question here is focused less on the “Where” and more on the “How”: how does the disappearance impact Catherine, Matthew and their marriage, along with the tight-knit community of Nathgari? Farrant explores the way pain and grief transforms people through two characters as penetrable as a slab of concrete. Seres and Kinirons’ screenplay prefers vague allusions over explanations (a single line by Matthew early on implies Catherine was just as promiscuous as Lily in her younger years), a choice that makes character motivations and actions murky and irrational. Farrant’s direction is quite lacking too, with a workmanlike quality that only conveys basic information when the film is all about complex emotions.

At least Farrant gathered quite the cast for her debut, even though they can’t elevate the material that much. Kidman hurls herself into her role, but while it’s easy to believe Catherine as a person, it’s much harder to believe in her actions; the latter half has Catherine behaving inexplicably, with Farrant assuming viewers will understand she’s distraught and fill in the blanks from there. Fiennes does what he can with his role as the archetypical emasculated patriarch, ready to pummel any man that might have slept with his daughter. The highlight is Hugo Weaving, the kind of thespian who puts the “support” in “supporting actor.” He actually has chemistry with Kidman, and a presence that makes his subplot—a relationship with an Aboriginal woman inadvertently related to the disappearance—more interesting than the main storyline. Strangerland amounts to little more than a turgid 2 hours with a pair of bland, lifeless characters. By the end, I was jealous of their missing kids. When they walked out of the film in the first act, I should have taken their lead.

Strangerland opens Friday, July 10th in select theatres, VOD and iTunes.

Cloud Atlas is a big film by all definitions; it contains an inordinate amount of characters spread out across hundreds of years, making the shear scope of the production epic. Not to mention the estimated budget of 100 million dollars (though it was independently financed outside the studio). To pull off such an ambitious feat, the film split the directorial duties among a trio of film visionaries, Tom Tykwer (Run Lola Run) and the Wachowskis siblings (Andy and Lana, The Matrix trilogy). However, Cloud Atlas’ biggest accomplishment may also be its biggest flaw; the overloaded plotlines are never boring, but at times they can be too much to follow.

When characters are first introduced in the opening sequence, one of them in particular seems to be speaking directly to the audience. That character is an older man (Jim Broadbent) on a typewriter who describes his time spent as an editor has made him dislike gimmicky storytelling involving flashbacks and flashforwards. But he goes on to say that if you have some patience you can then see that there is a method to its madness. That whole scene only lasts a few moments before going on to the next introduction, but it almost seemed to be begging the viewer to embrace what is about to unfold.

The plea to be patient between the back and forth storytelling proved to be necessary as Cloud Atlas contains six different time periods, each with their own plotline and characters. While everything happens in linear fashion in each time period, the film does jump between the six different time periods at will. Even though there are six different storylines, similar themes and characters are shared across them all, making everything connected to each other. The film brilliantly shifts from one period to another by using cleaver scene transitions. One example of this is when the thundering sound of horses galloping from one era leads into the next with a similar sound of a train racing on its tracks.

Cloud Atlas spans across several hundreds of years, ranging from the 1800s to the 2300s and several years in between as well. In the earliest setting of 1850, Adam (Jim Sturgess) is a wealthy pro-slavery American Lawyer who is poisoned by a corrupt doctor (Tom Hanks) for his fortune. He eventually switches his stance on slavery when a slave saves his life. In 1931, an upcoming composer (Ben Whisaw) works closely under one of the best known composers of the time (Jim Broadbent), but fears that his original masterpiece will be wrongfully claimed by his famous superior. Set in the 1970s, the daughter of a famous reporter, Luisa Rey (Halle Berry), is an investigative journalist who is looking to prove herself by uncovering a corrupt business leader (Hugh Grant). In the year 2012, a publisher named Timothy (Jim Broadbent) finally makes it big when an author’s (Tom Hanks) book flies off shelves after he murders a book critic. A few men go after Timothy for his money, which he does not have, forcing him to ask his deceitful brother for a loan who instead offers him a safe house. But Timothy’s finds himself captive in a nursing home instead. A hundred years in the future, a slave restaurant waitress manages to escape from her captivity to start a revolution. The last storyline is set far into the future, a member of an advanced civilization (Halle Berry) teams up with an island tribesman (Tom Hanks) to help solve each other’s dilemmas.

The common theme that stiches the six tales together is the desire of freedom. No matter what age the character lives in, there is someone there that wants to restrict the amount of power and freedom you possess. During each stretch of time, characters are morally challenged to stand up for what they believe in.

Because most cast in the film got to play both the hero and the villain, Cloud Atlas must have been an actor’s fantasy. Take the numerous roles that Tom Hanks had in the film for an example. He wonderfully portrayed the crooked doctor back in the 1800s but got a chance to redeem himself later as a good scientist in a different time period. Hanks, like other fellow cast members, is sometimes unrecognizable at first because of the amazing makeup job that serves as a disguise to their age, ethnicity and even gender.

Cloud Atlas is an entertaining yet dense film that contains many wonderfully told stories which link together seamlessly. All the stories brilliantly peak at the same time, making for one epic climax, once you first let all the stories develop independently. It is easy to get caught up in the web of trying to make all the connections between the characters – making a repeat viewing seemingly necessary. However, the major themes and messages are apparent enough in the film without the requirement of multiple viewings; but you must accept that some of the finer details will likely get lost in the shuffle.

With the announcement earlier this week that the new film by directors The Wachowskis and Tom Tykwer, Cloud Atlas was going to have its world premiere at this year’s edition of The Toronto International Film Festival, a trailer was almost immediately released. And boy is it a stunner. With a story that looks to be spanning hundreds of years and an international cast to go along with it, Cloud Atlas will either be a gigantic success or complete mess. The cast is led by Tom Hanks and Halle Berry but also includes Susan Sarandon, Jim Broadbent, Hugo Weaving and Hugh Grant.

The Wachowskis were last seen with the Speed Racer. A film that I felt was one of the most underrated films of the past decade. They of course are famous for directing the uneven Matrix trilogy. Tykwer is the German mastermind behind such ingenious work as Run Lola Run and The Princess and the Warrior. He also directed the mostly unseen The International.

All the talent behind and in front of the camera is here. The only problem is the film’s runtime. Word is that the studio wanted the directors to deliver a film no more than two and a half hours. Judging by this trailer (which itself is 3 times the length of most trailers) this could put a strain on the story of the film. Let’s hope these guys can deliver. But for now, check out the trailer below.

Watch the official trailer for Cloud Atlas: