Verdict
Summary
A slow burn doozy of a dramatic action thriller come western, Goldstone is a fantastic vehicle for star Pederson
Plot: Indigenous Detective Jay Swan arrives in the frontier town of Goldstone on a missing persons inquiry. What seems like a simple light duty investigation opens a web of crime and corruption. Jay must pull his life together and bury his differences with young local cop Josh, so together they can bring justice to Goldstone.
Review: Following the death of his daughter, Aborigine Detective Jay Swan (Aaron Pederson) rides into a middle of nowhere town called Goldstone that seems to be on the upswing with multiple land development deals that should make the place prosper. He’s on a missing persons case: that of a disappeared Chinese woman, and instead of asking for assistance from the local law enforcement, he keeps his head down and attends to his investigation on his own. At first he clashes with the local detective (there only seems to be one in town), a clean cut and honest guy named Waters (Alex Russell), but after fate forces them to team up against the entire town, they make an unbeatable pair. Turns out that the mayor (played by Jacki Weaver) is the head of some kind of small-time cartel and human trafficking ring, and when she turns her goons loose on the two detectives to stop them from finding out the truth of her organization the pillars of the town will come crashing down when they use their survival skills to battle her.
A slow burn doozy of a dramatic action thriller come western, Goldstone is a fantastic vehicle for star Pederson, who is reprising his role here from a film called Mystery Road from 2014. He has a compelling screen presence and a masculine vulnerability I rarely see in films. The film’s writer / director Ivan Sen seems to have a complete grasp of Australian culture, and uses the wasteland landscapes to maximum effect. The film has a desolate sense of foreboding, and when the action heats up, it’s electric.
The recent Blu-ray release of Goldstone comes packed with bonus material, including multiple featurettes. The quality of the transfer in strong and crisp, and anyone looking to add a doozy of a thriller to their collection should grab this one.
