In 1971, Wake In Fright depicted the booze-addled culture of Australia. Now, over four decades later, Brendan Cowell’s Ruben Guthrie once more delves into the national pastime, taking a sharp and at times poignant look at a problem which is regarded by some as a badge of honour.

In a bacchanalian opening scene not unlike those in Springbreakers and Entourage, we meet the eponymous Ruben (Patrick Brammall - Glitch / Upper Middle Bogan), a hot young advertising executive who seemingly has it all - the mansion on the water, the model fiancé (Zoya, played by Abbey Lee - Mad Max: Fury Road) and the adoration of his peers. Ruben is celebrating yet another advertising award at a raucous party at his home, replete with bikini-clad women and a horde of drinking buddies. He is swigging from a bottle and shouting, “Let’s get smashed!” When an act of exuberance nearly kills him, his girlfriend packs her bags and walks out, suggesting he gets in contact with her in a year’s time, but only if he has been off the booze for those 365 days. Hailing from the Czech Republic, Zoya’s disdain for Australia’s attitude to booze is encapsulated in four words, “Zis is drinking country.”

Ruben starts attending AA sessions, accompanied by his mother Susan (Robyn Nevin – Upper Middle Bogan / Top Of The Lake), who initially encourages him to take control of his life. Ruben’s father Peter (Jack Thompson – The Great Gatsby / Mystery Road) is a restaurateur who has left Susan for his attractive young kitchen-hand. As Ruben tries desperately to come to grips with his alcohol abuse, he is constantly led into temptation by those around him: his boss Ray (Jeremy Sims – Wild Boys / Home And Away) encourages him to drink because he thinks that Ruben’s best work appears through a haze of alcohol, his parents because they “want their son back,” and his best mate Damian (Alex Dimitriades – The Infinite Man / The Slap) who just wants somebody to party with. Ruben recoils in horror and accuses them of being ‘enablers’ with little regard for his situation.

We soon realise that they are all in denial about their own relationships with Bacchus. The AA program takes a bit of a beating, too, as the film questions whether it merely replaces one addiction with another, as exemplified by Virginia (Harriet Dyer – Love Child / Janet King), one of the group who strikes up a ‘friendship’ with Ruben. A sense of grieving permeates the lives of all those affected by Ruben entering AA and this reaction is at the heart of this unrelenting look at the effects of imbibing above and beyond what are considered ‘normal’ limits. The ‘herd’ is troubled when one of its members breaks away!

All the performances are terrific, especially Brammall and Dimitriades, who spar off one another effortlessly. Thompson and Nevin are utterly believable, too, as the self-absorbed couple who dance on the edge of their own emotional precipices. The original music, by Sarah Blasko, works really well, as do the fleeting images of the Vivid Festival in Sydney, which are part of Guthrie’s award-winning ad. Shot by English cinematographer Simon Harding, these images make for a splendid portrayal of the Emerald City.

Originally a stage production for Sydney’s Belvoir Street Theatre in 2009, Cowell has successfully adapted his semi-autobiographical story to the silver screen. It takes an honest man to face his demons and, in the telling of this tale, he has shown how difficult it is to say ’no’ in a culture which considers it is ‘un-Australian’ not to have a drink. The irony is that, at the film’s end, one is overcome by the desire to go out and knock back a couple! It’s that sobering. It was an interesting choice for the opening night of the Sydney Film festival - one wonders what the after party was like?

// SALT

Previewed at Hoyts Studio 12, Entertainment Quarter, Sydney, on 7 July 2015