TL;DR – I was not sure what to expect with this film going, but a deep exploration of generational trauma was the surprise that the film needed, that and gravy.

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

Disclosure – I paid for the Binge service that viewed this film.

Warning – Contains scenes that may cause distress.

How to Make Gravy Review –

One of the many odd traditions that happen in an Australian Christmas, along with seafood for Christmas lunch and the need to make Santa learn how to surf in his winter outfit for some reason, is that a song about making gravy becomes fantastically popular. It is a sad song of regret and longing for the family at a time when connections are fraught, and it has always felt like an odd choice for a Christmas song, but I didn’t get a say in that collective cultural choice. But will that song make a good film? Well, that is the question we will look at today.

So, to set the scene, last Christmas, everything changed, especially when it was the first Christmas without their grandmother. But no matter what happens, the family comes together and quietly judges that Joe (Daniel Henshall) lost his job. There is the joy of all the family coming together, but then the undercurrent of loss because one person is no longer there. Joe was struggling with everything and just does not want to talk to everyone, even though wants him to speak. Soon, a tipping point was reached, and Joe didn’t come home. Now, all his son Angus (Jonah Wren Phillips) wants for Christmas is to see his dad again.

The question is, how good an adaptation of the song is this? Which is the first time I have asked that question on the site, and I have reviewed many different types of adaptations. Well, on one front, it only took the film minutes before they prominently showed what looked like reasonably good gravy. The original song gives you a framework for a story; you just need to fill it in to give it the meat. In this case, it is why Joe is in prison writing his letter. With that in mind, I think the film does an excellent job of putting all of that together. What it does well is putting you in a place where you think you would write that letter.

One of the things that the film gets right is the family dynamics. I think every family has a Roger (Damon Herriman), the one that, no matter what, can always press people’s buttons. Now, if one of my family members is reading this, no, obviously, you are not the Roger in our family, but I bet you know who it is. Also, I know the pain of realising that you should stop making funcle happen. But there is also a deep sadness here because Joe was never taught how to process his emotions. As the film calls it, ‘he cries through his fists’. Joe does not know because his father never taught him. Worse, he is passing those same lessons on to his son. Not everything in the film works as well as its central premise, some of the family drama feels a bit tacked on, and the drama slips into melodrama in places. But those are small issues.

Indeed, the central theme of the film is confronting that generational trauma and how difficult that can be when it has been all your life and all your parent’s lives. This exploration works because you can feel that pain in Daniel Henshall’s performance and that struggle to keep things under control when you can feel that they are on the edge of the abyss. However, wisely, they juxtapose this with Hugo Weaving’s Noel, who is the element of calm, to contrast Joe’s frustrated aggression. He is the transition point for the story, shifting it into a new direction. Given the demographic who loves this song and celebrates ‘Gravy Day’ every year, focusing on processing your emotions was a choice, one I think is a good one, but I wonder how it will be taken.    

In the end, do we recommend How to Make Gravy? Yes, we do. It is a hard film to watch at times because it explores quite raw emotions of pain, loss, abandonment, and grief. But it is those emotions they explore that make it as good as it is. If you liked How to Make Gravy, we would recommend to you The Holdovers.

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 How to Make Gravy?, 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 How to Make Gravy
Directed by – Nick Waterman
Screenplay by – Meg Washington & Nick Waterman
Based on – How to Make Gravy by Paul Kelly
Music and Songs by – Samuel Dixon & Meg Washington
Cinematography by – Edward Goldner
Edited by – Ahmad Halimi
Production/Distribution Companies – Screen Queensland, Fifth Season, Warner Bros Pictures, Speech and Drama Pictures & Binge
Starring – Daniel Henshall, Agathe Rousselle, Brenton Thwaites, Damon Herriman, Kate Mulvany, Jonah Wren Phillips, Kieran Darcy-Smith & Hugo Weaving with Rose Statham, Izzy Westlake, Kim Gyngell, Eugene Gilfedder, Eloise Rothfield, Kieran Darcy-Smith, Adam Briggs, Patience Hodgson, Dallas Woods, Chris Alosio, Brendan Maclean, James Caulfield, Riley Armstrong, Jacob Hohua, Sami Afuni, Benedict Hardie, Meg Washington, Amos Waterman, Fayssal Bazzi, Paul Kelly & Storm  
Rating – Australia: M;