A24 Film No. 10: The Rover (2014)

 

The Rover is set in the lawless wastelands of a dystopian Australia, where the consequences of an economic collapse make this apocalyptic tale feel closer to our reality than many other films in the genre. There is still some remnant of law, represented by the figure of the police and a few soldiers, but overall it seems that even that has collapsed: whoever can defend themselves wins. Yet the collapse itself is not what truly matters in the film (we learn little about what actually happened). In a way, The Rover can be read as a story of an aftermath without an event, as the disaster itself is no longer the rupture, but the background that helps us explain the condition of our characters. Written and directed by David Michôd, the film explores life after the collapse, the brutality and violence that reign over the survivors, and how these conditions have transformed human relations. 

The story is quite simple. We follow Eric (Guy Pearce), a farmer and former soldier who has lost everything. His car is stolen by a group of four men fleeing a robbery gone wrong. It is not until the very last scene that we learn why the car is so important to Eric, yet we spend the rest of the film following his relentless search for it. Along the way, he is accompanied by Rey (in an impeccable performance by Robert Pattinson, who here sheds the weight of the Twilight saga), the brother of one of the thieves, who has been left behind by the group.

It is difficult to watch this film without thinking of the Mad Max saga. One could even imagine it fitting within the world of the first film in the franchise, and the highway scenes are reminiscent of Mad Max: Fury Road, released a year after The Rover. Moreover, the film even invites comparison with other road narratives set in the midst of an apocalypse, such as The Road, and it carries certain echoes of western-inflected thrillers like No Country for Old Men (particularly in its desert setting and its cat-and-mouse dynamic). But what makes The Rover unique? This is not ultimately a story about survival, vengeance, or even social collapse itself. In a way, it is more concerned with the human condition within this specific context, and with the idea of “just going on.” What else can one do at the “end of the world”?

Is there any hope in the wastelands?

The despair and violence that dominate the film’s atmosphere might initially suggest that it is not really about anything beyond Eric’s pursuit of his stolen car. The desert setting, which permeates the imagery and immerses the audience in its suffocating emptiness, combined with the film’s stark brutality, makes it a (really) difficult watch. One feels the harshness of life in a world where there is almost nothing, and where the little that remains can disappear at any moment. It is a world of hopelessness in a suspended time. 

However, the car's secret meaning lies in something more. Despite the chaos and the apparent absence of hope for both present and future, there are still forces that drive people to act. For Eric, it is the need to recover his car and what it represents (which I don’t want to spoil because, in a way, it is an emotional revelation that rewards the viewer for enduring the film’s relentless brutality). In Rey’s case, one might argue that what propels him is the love for his brother and the need for recognition, to confront him, and to express the pain of his abandonment and betrayal.

Since we, too, are living in strange and complex times, the film resonates with me in unexpected ways. It suggests that even in the bleakest circumstances, we need to hold on to something, however fragile, to keep moving forward.