Peter Weir follows up on his critically acclaimed masterpiece Picnic at Hanging Rock with this surrealist psychological drama. The film opens with a freak hailstorm in Australia's outback. Cut to David Burton (Richard Chamberlain), a well-to-do Sydney corporate lawyer plagued by visions of impending doom who is assigned to defend five accused of murdering a fellow Aborigine. The case itself proves to be mysterious -- no exact cause of death can be determined by the pathologist, and the accused remain strangely tight-lipped about the whole affair. As his visions grow increasingly weird and intense, Burton sees in his dream one of the five Aborigines, Chris (David Gulpili of Walkabout fame), who is drenched and clutching a sacred rock. Burton's interest in the case slides into complete obsession, and he comes to believe that not only was the murder related to an underground urban tribe of Aborigines but that Australia is about to be decimated by a massive, apocalyptic tidal wave. Jonathan Crow, Rovi
- Genre: Drama
- Category Psychological Drama, Disaster Film
- Studio: Criterion
- Run Time: 01 hr 46 min
- Language: English
- Subtitle Language: English
- Picture Format: widescreen
- Release Date: November 27, 2001
- Lead Actor: Olivia Hamnett, David Gulpilil, Frederick Parslow, Nadjiwarra Amagula, Richard Chamberlain
- Supporting Actor: Tony Llewellyn-Jones, Hedley Cullen, Jo England, Cedric Lalara, Vivean Gray, Malcolm Robertson, Roy Bara, Walter Amagula, John Meagher, Wallas Eaton, Morris Lalara, Peter Carroll, John Frawley, Greg Rowe, Athol Compton, Michael Duffield
- Director: Peter Weir
