Ray, the lead character in “The Square,” piles on the misdeeds. It’s easy to believe the title refers to him and not a quadrant on a construction site.
Early in this dark, often spry indie crime thriller from Australia, Ray (David Roberts) is just out of his depth enough to be sympathetic — barely.
Poor Ray. He’s cheating on his wife but he’s not particularly good at it. He’s a respected construction-site manager who (compelled by circumstances, he’d say with exasperation) begins to cut corners. He’s not good at being bad. And yet.
Director Nash Edgerton’s promising debut — co-written with Matthew Dabner from a story by Edgerton’s brother Joel — suggests that being an amateur can lead to worse crimes. Leave it to the professionals.
Ray’s young lover, Carla (Claire Van de Boom), lives across a canal with husband Smithy. Class-wise, her home is the watery version of the other side of the tracks. Smithy (Anthony Hayes) and his cohort of thieves are an unkempt, quick- to-suspect bunch.
This doesn’t make us cheer louder for Ray and Carla. Their fugitive relationship is less loving than fraught with the trust issues of infidelity.
“The Square” is a morality noir in which there’s very little onscreen morality. That hidden bag of money leads the lovers to a plan. It seems innocent enough — if one considers arson innocent.
Middling intentions and too-late regrets fuel the cumulative disasters, as does the sort of rank desperation that takes hold once a character has already gone too far.
And then a blackmail note arrives in a Christmas card.
In a particularly savory scene, firefighters performing in a community Christmas pageant exit the show to answer a fire alarm that should never have sounded.
Joel Edgerton (the baby-faced shoe manufacturer in “Kinky Boots”) portrays Billy, a firebug for hire. He lives with a slow-witted woman (Hanna Mangan-Lawrence) who might be his sister or his lover. In a nice bit of resistance, the filmmakers don’t nail down their relationship.
That Nash and Joel Edgerton work together and have a nasty-cheeky (or vice versa) way with mayhem has led to comparisons to Joel and Ethan Coen.
Yet for all the movie’s wry volatility, it isn’t as bloody simple as that. There’s something less ha-ha about the trenches the characters dig for themselves in “The Square.” Biblical retribution seems to get its due when thunder rattles and rain pelts a character trying to hide evidence of his misdeeds.
In a fun bit of business, “The Square” is preceded by Edgerton’s short film “Spider.”
In “Spider,” a couple stews in their car. Jill (Mirrah Foulkes) is unhappy with the emotionally uphill slog she does with boyfriend Jack (Edgerton). He’s got serious issues; he just can’t quite take anything seriously.
The terse, edgy short begins with a quote from dear ol’ Mum: “It’s all fun and games till someone loses an eye.” Indeed.
“The Square.”
R for violence and language. 1 hour, 41 minutes. Directed by Nash Edgerton; written by Edgerton and Matthew Dabner; photography by Brad Shield; starring David Roberts, Claire Van der Boom, Joel Edgerton, Anthony Hayes, Peter Phelps and Bill Hunter. Opens today at the Mayan.
