Despite struggling with a thematic focus, the film presents a woman who is well worth getting to know.
The Drover's Wife: The Legend of Molly Johnson
✭ ✭ ✭ Read critic reviews
Australia · 2022
1h 49m
Director Leah Purcell
Starring Leah Purcell, Rob Collins, Sam Reid, Jessica De Gouw
Genre Drama, Thriller, Western
Add to Watchlist
Please login to add films to your watchlist.
In the Australian Outback of 1893, the terrain is rough, the people hard-nosed, and the law somewhat secondary. Molly Johnson, heavily pregnant and alone with her children on a farm far from town, struggles to raise her children and run the family farm while her husband is away.
What are people saying?
What are critics saying?
The Hollywood Reporter by David Rooney
An interrogation of Australia's history of racial violence that also takes on gender, identity and domestic abuse against a backdrop right out of an archetypal high country Western, the engrossing thriller is admirably ambitious but choppy, at times eluding the director's grasp.
An exceptionally compelling Outback Western.
Purcell, as star, stays resolute to the last, but as filmmaker, her sharp ideas are dulled into something that barely leaves a mark.
The metaphors of colonial history, the subjugation of women and Aboriginal peoples, vicious social ills and a nation’s hidden guilty past are all alluded to. But their treatment in The Legend of Molly Johnson are not developed to the extent needed to leave the lasting gut punch, and change of consciousness, this admirable project could have achieved.
The atmospheric revenge-thriller marks the feature filmmaking debut of actor/writer/director Leah Purcell, who plays the titular matriarch with steely resolve, rousingly adapts her own play and book, and delivers an impassioned film with an unflinching Indigenous and feminist perspective.
Users who liked this film also liked
Aquaman
Behold the Protector of the Deep.
- ✭ ✭ ✭
- Australia, United States • 2018
- Director James Wan
- Cast Jason Momoa, Amber Heard, Willem Dafoe, Patrick Wilson, Nicole Kidman, Dolph Lundgren
- Genre Action, Adventure, Fantasy
- Available on tru TV, Max Amazon Channel, Max, Apple TV, Google Play Movies, Vudu, Amazon Video, Microsoft Store, YouTube, AMC on Demand, Tubi TV
The Witch
Evil takes many forms.
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- United Kingdom, Canada, United States • 2016
- Director Robert Eggers
- Cast Anya Taylor-Joy, Ralph Ineson, Kate Dickie, Harvey Scrimshaw, Ellie Grainger, Lucas Dawson
- Genre Mystery, Horror
- Available on Cinemax Amazon Channel, Max Amazon Channel, Max, Cinemax Apple TV Channel, Apple TV, Google Play Movies, Vudu, Amazon Video, Microsoft Store, YouTube, Kanopy
Baby Driver
After being coerced into working for a crime boss, a young getaway driver finds himself taking part in a heist doomed to fail.
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- United Kingdom, United States • 2017
- Director Edgar Wright
- Cast Ansel Elgort, Lily James, Kevin Spacey, Jon Hamm, Jamie Foxx, Eiza González
- Genre Action, Crime
- Available on Netflix, Apple TV, Google Play Movies, Vudu, Amazon Video, Microsoft Store, YouTube, Spectrum On Demand, AMC on Demand
Barbie
She’s everything. He’s just Ken.
- ✭ ✭ ✭
- United States, United Kingdom • 2023
- Director Greta Gerwig
- Cast Margot Robbie, Ryan Gosling, Will Ferrell, Emma Mackey, Issa Rae, America Ferrera
- Genre Comedy
- Available on Max Amazon Channel, Max, Apple TV, Google Play Movies, Vudu, Amazon Video, Microsoft Store, YouTube, Spectrum On Demand
Parasite
(기생충)
A poor family lies and schemes their way into the employ of a wealthy household — successfully, but with great consequences.
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- Korea • 2019
- Director Bong Joon-ho
- Cast Song Kang-ho, Lee Sun-kyun, Cho Yeo-jeong, Choi Woo-shik, Park So-dam, Chang Hyae-jin
- Genre Comedy, Drama, Thriller
- Available on Max Amazon Channel, Max, Apple TV, Google Play Movies, Vudu, Amazon Video, Microsoft Store, YouTube, Spectrum On Demand, AMC on Demand
Enola Holmes
Holmes... Enola Holmes
- ✭ ✭ ✭
- United Kingdom • 2020
- Director Harry Bradbeer
- Cast Millie Bobby Brown, Henry Cavill, Sam Claflin, Helena Bonham Carter, Louis Partridge, Adeel Akhtar
- Genre Adventure, Crime, Mystery
- Available on Netflix, Netflix basic with Ads
Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning Part One
Packed with stunts, this adrenaline-filled first installment marks the thrilling conclusion to Ethan Hunt's story in a two-part movie experience.
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- Italy, Norway, United Arab Emirates • 2023
- Director Christopher McQuarrie
- Cast Tom Cruise, Rebecca Ferguson, Simon Pegg, Ving Rhames, Hayley Atwell, Esai Morales
- Genre Action, Adventure, Thriller
- Available on MGM Plus, fuboTV, Paramount Plus, Paramount+ Amazon Channel, MGM Plus Roku Premium Channel, Paramount Plus Apple TV Channel , MGM Plus Amazon Channel, Apple TV, Google Play Movies, Vudu, Amazon Video, Microsoft Store, YouTube, Spectrum On Demand
The Power of the Dog
In Montana, in 1925, a rancher responds with cruelty when his brother brings home a new wife and her son.
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- United Kingdom, Australia, United States • 2021
- Director Jane Campion
- Cast Benedict Cumberbatch, Kirsten Dunst, Jesse Plemons, Kodi Smit-McPhee, Thomasin McKenzie, Frances Conroy
- Genre Drama, Western
- Available on Netflix, Netflix basic with Ads
The Banshees of Inisherin
Colm abruptly ends his lifelong friendship with Pádraic, resulting in alarming consequences for both.
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- Ireland, United Kingdom, United States • 2022
- Director Martin McDonagh
- Cast Colin Farrell, Brendan Gleeson, Kerry Condon, Barry Keoghan, Gary Lydon, Pat Shortt
- Genre Comedy, Drama
- Available on Apple TV, Google Play Movies, Vudu, Amazon Video, Microsoft Store, YouTube, Spectrum On Demand, AMC on Demand
Thirteen Lives
Based on the real-life rescue mission of a Thai youth soccer team who became trapped in an underground cave.
- ✭ ✭ ✭
- United Kingdom • 2022
- Director Ron Howard
- Cast Viggo Mortensen, Colin Farrell, Joel Edgerton, Tom Bateman, Paul Gleeson, Teeradon Supapunpinyo
- Genre Drama, Thriller
- Available on Amazon Prime Video, Amazon Prime Video with Ads
Decision to Leave
(헤어질 결심)
A detective investigating a mysterious death finds himself both suspecting and falling for the dead man's wife.
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- Korea • 2022
- Director Park Chan-wook
- Cast Park Hae-il, Tang Wei, Lee Jung-hyun, Park Yong-woo, Go Kyung-pyo, Kim Shin-young
- Genre Crime, Drama, Mystery, Romance, Thriller
- Available on MUBI, MUBI Amazon Channel, Apple TV, Vudu, Amazon Video
Railway Heroes
(铁道英雄)
- ✭ ✭ ✭
- China • 2021
- Director Feng Yang
- Cast Zhang Hanyu, Fan Wei, Vision Wei, Zhou Ye, Yu Haoming, Guo Mingyu
- Genre History, War, Drama, Action, Adventure
- Available on Rakuten Viki, Apple TV, Vudu, AsianCrush, Cineverse