It took Wolf Creek to revive the idea lost since the mid 80s of the locally made genre film. Since then there’s been something close to an onslaught. Rogue, Dying Breed, Prey, The Loved Ones, The Horseman, Beneath Hill 60, and Sanctum have all appeared in the last few years. Thankfully, the industry hasn’t gotten lazy, either, with pictures such as Animal Kingdom and Red Hill attempting to do something a little different to the routine of their type.
The latest in this new breed of genre variations is Wasted on the Young. Taken at face value this is a teen flick, but it’s more Less Than Zero than St. Elmo’s Fire, with a healthy dose of Videodrome thrown in for good measure. As such, Wasted on the Young isn’t really a film for teens at all, and has a weary, knowing cynicism that should see it gain plenty of traction with audiences in their late 20s and 30s.
Set an elite Australian private school, Wasted on the Young focuses on a bunch of teens staring down the barrel of adulthood. Ironic then that the adults themselves are conspicuously absent from the entire picture: just one of the many clever techniques that the filmmakers have used to sell the world of Darren (Oliver Ackland), a shy loner who’s recently moved to town to take up residence in the sprawling, upmarket house of his stepfather.
With the grown-ups away, Darren has to deal with the constant partying of his newly acquired stepbrother, Zack (Alex Russell), the uber alpha school bully. The two brothers get by, operating on an almost unspoken truce, but when the beautiful Xandrie (Adelaide Clemens) enters the picture, Darren and Zack are set opposite each other, and their actions (particularly those of Zack) will have a whole string of dark consequences for themselves and their classmates.
Wasted on the Young is concerned with a number of elements regarding modern unchecked youth culture power, bullying and hedonistic excess but is particularly sharp when it comes to the portrayal of the always-on social media of modern teen life. Just like when you and I were buying chicken burgers and playing handball, rumours are spread and accusations made. The difference is that now the malicious behaviour is set in electronic print, and the line between fact and hearsay becomes perilously thin.
The filmmakers have done an excellent job at creating this environment for the screen. Sam Hobbs’s production design is exceptional, the real life of the kids dominated by simple, vivid colours that mimic the stylised schemes and palettes of the digital world. Writer director Ben C. Lucas and cinematographer Dan Freene have been careful in the choice of shots, lenses, and colour composition, their camera gliding smoothly if moving at all, pulling the audience into the voyeurism that plays such a big role in the film. Producers Janelle Landers and Aidan O’Bryan perhaps deserve the most praise , managing to make their $700,000 film look like it’s worth at least five times that amount.
Lucas took a risk with his cast, signing on older players perhaps in the quest for experience over looks. It can take you out of the film particularly when the more youthful extras wander into frame but for the most part works beautifully. The central players do an exceptional job, Ackland helping Darren not appear too passive and Clemens breathing the required life into Xandrie, pushing effectively against the slightly limited screen time.
It was a first-time feature role for Russell as the sickeningly fascinating Zack, and he nails his opportunity creating such a watchable monster can’t have been easy. The extensive support cast is equally as good especially Kym Thorne and Georgina Haig playing the class bitches, and T.J. Power as Zack’s ferocious best mate Lucas appearing to be a dab hand with his players.
Lucas’s first skill is his directing so it’s perhaps little surprise that Wasted on the Young’s biggest weaknesses come through in the script. This is a hyper-real world, but even so some of the developments later in the film feel a little farfetched. And the filmmakers perhaps play their cards too close to the chest at times, passing on a little clarity when that would have perhaps helped more properly define the stakes and character motivations. Not adding to the film is a dragging second act, a major revelation leaving the characters fumbling as to what to do about it and the audience consequently shifting in their seats.
Still, these are relatively minor quibbles when everything else has been applied to the screen with such skill. Wasted on the Young is a reminder of what the Australian industry can produce when a talented bunch of filmmakers put their heads together over a solid premise. You want everybody who came out of this to convert their success into something bigger and even better they deserve it.
I say:
A superior Australian film on a relatively miniscule budget. It may not be what either the arthouse critics or the mainstream crowds desire, but Wasted on the Young doesn’t deserve to slip through the cracks.
See it for:
Production design, cinematography, sound design, performances and score a whole bunch of things, really. Just don’t be put off by the slightly sketchy gunplay.
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