One out of
Five stars
Running time:
118 mins
Pretentious, poorly directed and desperately dull drama with dodgy performances and an appallingly written script – this is easily one of the worst films of the year.
What's it all about?
Daniel (Tom Long) and his girlfriend Bridget (Anna Torv) are dancers in a Melbourne dance company run by choreographer Isabel (Greta Scacchi). During a break in rehearsals, Daniel pops out for cigarettes and promptly disappears for two weeks, causing Isabel to enlist the aid of her cop ex-husband (Colin Friels) in the search.
When Daniel reappears, flashbacks reveal that he's been kidnapped and sexually abused by a trio of masked women. However, he finds himself haunted by his experiences and unable to reconnect with Bridget, so he sets off on a mission to uncover the identity of his captors, eventually meeting a new girlfriend (Deborah Mailman as Julie), who seems to offer him a degree of hope.
The Bad
The film is based on the novel by Rupert Thomson, but frankly, it's anybody's guess as to what's going on here. At times, it seems like it's meant to be allegorical, but the deeply un-erotic sexual content (including a female-on-male rape scene) doesn't seem to serve any purpose beyond misguided titillation, while the dialogue is exceptionally tedious throughout.
The performances are equally dull, particularly Tom Long, who makes a decidedly unsympathetic lead, both before and after his ordeal. Indeed, the only time the film perks up is with the appearance of Deborah Mailman as Julie, but by then you'll have long ceased to care.
The Worst
Aside from the confusing religious imagery and the overwhelming sense that the director (Anna Kokkinos) doesn't actually know what she's trying to say, the film doesn't even work as a thriller. Instead, it has an abrupt final scene that makes you wonder if the projectionist has done you a favour by ending it early.
Worth seeing?
The Book of Revelations is a badly acted, poorly written and confusingly directed mess, while the only revelation you're likely to experience is that you shouldn't have bothered watching the film in the first place. Avoid.