Road to Perth (2021) — Read Along
5 reasons for liking this road trip across Australia
Fancy a “Read Along” with an Englishman as he espouses the greatness of this wonderful accidental love story and road trip through Australia?
Then the video below is for you!
In a departure from my rather standard and rudimentary style of film reviews, here are five overall reasons for liking, if not loving, this beautifully independent creation. Whilst this will still be a spoiler light appraisal, I hope the following five nuggets of gold will whet your appetite to give this 82 minutes of your life sometime.
Disclaimer: I was in the “mood” for a film such as this and I’m a sucker for an accidental road trip story and so not surprisingly, I liked this very much indeed.
(1) Written and directed by Chad Peter (with both of his main stars noted with writing collaboration credits), “Road to Perth” moves very deliberately and very pleasingly at its own laconic and unhurried pace. Please don’t expect the long and lingering shots to cease any time soon and especially so the coastal vistas and beaches when they arrive. Chad Peter also acted as his own cinematographer (as well as Editor and Producer!) and so deserves all the kudos possible for having a vision for a film and presenting it so well and so in keeping with a slow, meditating road trip across Australia.
(2) Australia is a character all of her own and somewhat stripped back, out of season and not the coastal country often depicted bathed in Summer sunshine. The beaches duly arrive and whether it’s by sunlight or by sunset (sunsets seem to be a theme for the film) they are beautifully shot within the mood of the film at the time. Please also don’t discount the real life characters of the real towns such as Quorn or Mount Noorat, and away from Adelaide or the film’s final destination of Perth.
(3) “Alex” (Tommy O’Brien) Broken hearted, bereft and more than a little bemused, Alex sets off on the supposed honeymoon trip had his girlfriend not turned down his marriage proposal. Devastated, he sets off anyway with the intention of documenting his own road movie before he becomes fortuitously entangled in someone else’s. The film’s innocent heart and smiling soul despite the heartbreak and a wandering spirit seeking a home.
(4) “Ronnie” (Hannah Lehmann) Immediately described as cold and “abrasive” by her accidental new friend Alex, Ronnie is quietly introspective and self protective before she blossoms into much mischievousness amongst her melancholy. This now becomes Ronnie’s road trip and her dedication to a deeply missed Father as well as perhaps a final parting of the ways from another life.
(5) “Road to Perth” is many things, from the simplistic version of a road trip to unrequited love, the kindness of strangers or the accidental friendships that often bloom unexpectedly and at exactly the right time. Both characters seem somewhat loners and introspective but with that mischievousness and a twinkle of the eye that suggests they will move on and they’ll leave the baggage in the past where it belongs. Accompanied by a unique soundtrack from Bjear (plus additional music from Christopher Doulgeris), I loved this film for its study in grief and the hollowness that follows. Be it the receipt of the most unexpected of wedding news through to the physical loss of a parent, there’s a void that simply can’t be filled. Not immediately anyway.
This film portrays that immediacy very well.
“Road to Perth” can also be found surrounded by hundreds more spoiler free film reviews within my 7 volumes of “Essential Film Reviews Collection” on Amazon and, should you have an Amazon Kindle “Unlimited” package, you can read each and every volume for free.
Here’s a link to the final volume together with my pride and joy of traditional printed books also available via Amazon:
"The Essential Film Reviews Collection Vol.7" - link to Amazon
Thanks for reading. I hope this message in a bottle in The Matrix finds you well, prospering, and the right way up in an upside down world.