TL;DR – There is a solid film in here; you just need to find it through all the messiness.

Post-Credit Scene – There is no post-credit scene.

Disclosure – I paid to watch this film.

Force of Nature: The Dry 2 Review –

Back in 2020, there was a great moment when, thanks to the current circumstances, The Dry, Penguin Bloom, and High Ground were the top films in Australia, the first time in an age that three Australian films had managed that. Of those, there was one that was primed for a sequel, and that is what we are looking at today.

So to set the scene, it is a wet and cold morning as four women crash through the bush of the Giralang Ranges to the sound of a coming car. Jill Bailey (Deborra-Lee Furness), Beth (Sisi Stringer), Bree (Lucy Ansell) & Lauren (Robin McLeavy) are cold, wet, and hurt, but all the more importantly, they are missing one of their group, Alice (Anna Torv). It is a dense forest, and searching it will be difficult, but as we discover, Alice is an informant, and her last phone call to Aaron Falk (Eric Bana) was profoundly concerning, making people wonder just what happened up on that mountain.    

For better or worse, Force of Nature follows a narrative progression very similar to that of The Dry. We get a slow-shifting exploration of what went down on the mountain, full of unreliable narrators, slowly progressing the narrative while flashing back to Aaron’s past. I did find it fascinating to work out just what happened on that mountain because I have been in bush like that before, and I know how easy it is to get lost if you are not ready.

On that front, the production of this film is helped by just how beautiful the Victorian rainforests are. Full of tree ferns, gum trees that stretch into the sky, and vistas that reach into the horizon. You need a land that has beauty and danger in equal measure, and I think the filmmakers found it here. I believe everyone captured their characters well, amplifying the unreliable natures and keeping you off-balance as to what happened. This setting also works as a solid contrast to the visual motifs of the first film.

However, while the narrative engaged me, I also found the story to be incredibly messy in places. While also feeling like it was just rehashing the first film, the flashbacks didn’t really add anything to the film bar, ripping us away from the more interesting main narrative. That whole storyline kept trying to find its relevance in the central time, and it never worked. This would have given Aaron something more to do than stand around looking pensive and let characters like Daniel Bailey (Richard Roxburgh) and Carmen Cooper (Jacqueline McKenzie) have some more growth.   

In the end, do we recommend Force of Nature: The Dry 2? Well, I am not sure it hit as well as the first film. However, I was still captivated by the story. I think it helped that with Anna Torv and Jacqueline McKenzie, we almost had the trifecta of Aussie 2000s sci-fi goodness. If you liked Force of Nature: The Dry 2, we would recommend to you Deadloch.

By Brian MacNamara: You can follow Brian on Twitter Here, when he’s not chatting about Movies and TV, he’ll be talking about International Relations, or the Solar System.

Have you watched Force of Nature: The Dry 2?, let us know what you thought in the comments below, feel free to share this review on any of the social medias and you can follow us Here. Check out all our past reviews and articles Here, and have a happy day. 


Credits – All images were created by the cast, crew, and production companies of Force of Nature: The Dry 2
Directed by – Robert Connolly
Screenplay by – Robert Connolly
Based on – Force of Nature by Jane Harper
Music by – Peter Raeburn
Cinematography by – Andrew Commis
Edited by – Alexandre De Franceschi & Maria Papoutsis
Production/Distribution Companies – Screen Australia, Film Victoria, Made Up Stories, Arenamedia, Pick Up Truck Pictures & Roadshow Films
Starring –Eric Bana, Anna Torv, Deborra-Lee Furness, Robin McLeavy, Sisi Stringer, Lucy Ansell, Jacqueline McKenzie, Jeremy Lindsay Taylor, Richard Roxburgh, Tony Briggs, Kenneth Radley, Archie Thomson, Ash Ricardo, Ingrid Torelli & Matilda May Pawsey
Rating – Australia: M; United States: R