John M. Wenitong (Pemulwuy Weeatunga)

5* - Quite a decent & honest Australian film & historical story. The characters are solidly unique in the wild 'bush' & gold-rush setting, both portraying the 'new' country with all of its wide-ranging promise and harsh environment, in every picture word and deed. The tension builds at a comfortable pace until before you know it, you are 'edge of seat' viewing, & - as in real life - sudden violence erupts & is gone, leaving a wake of genuine empathy for the very real characters - in this viewer. Fyi - in a genuine review of the times, the ancient Australians [aboriginal/indigenous] are mentioned in a one-line off-stage 'part'; reminiscent of their rather awkward survival: an 'under the breath' aside that everyone knew of the hunts & killings but took such only-rumor in their stride to own & subjugate their lands.

Tbh, I felt sick from watching this film right from the start. I knew what had to be coming for my mob, because history & life experience tells me in no uncertain terms that it won't be good. To see our unique, ancient, proud & dignified people treated as slaves once more, took me back to the day I found out that my fellow Australian people had rounded up my mother's aboriginal descendants and killed, or put them behind wire-enclosed prisons like meat-stock slaves: like one of the exciting, fantastic fiction books I'd read growing up; but this story was real! & in my own country of birth! I'd thought 'we' were the proper, fair-dinkum lucky country of all the world - with equity for all to that point. I wept at the blind injustice and ignorant arrogance revealed that fine day. Now, I fight daily for the equity & integrity that can yet heal our unique country, & just maybe; give our children another 60,000 years into the future: if we listen finally to our 1st people's ancient and successful experience here.