Painting clothes, throwing stones at kangaroos, sniffing glue: that's all life has in store for Samson and Delilah. When the two aboriginal teenagers try to flee their stuffy village, life elsewhere turns out to be not much better. This year's Australian Oscar submission.
Warwick Thornton also bases his fourth film, just like his earlier work, on the situation of Australian aboriginals. Delilah, who is not easily frightened, earns just enough by painting clothing to buy food for her grandmother. When she's not painting, she pushes her grandma in a wheelchair to the doctor. Samson is worse off: in order to suppress his hunger, he sniffs glue. If he wants to amuse himself, he can choose between throwing stones or digging holes. When, after a tragic turn, the two finally dare flee their village, a local viaduct seems to be a suitable springboard to the rest of the world.
The life of the two teenagers is difficult, not lastly because of the suffocating monotony. With several visual and audio jokes, Thornton manages to make much of the misery bearable.