Scarfies

Wednesday 5 March at 7.30pm

Robert Sarkies | New Zealand | 1999 | 94 mins | R16 violence & offensive language

A group of uni students finds more than they bargained for when they move into an abandoned house in Sarkies’ newly restored Dunedin crime caper.

“What appears at first to be an uncomplicated fast-buck windfall turns into a nightmarish spiral of increasingly violent events in Scarfies, an accomplished first feature from 26-year-old New Zealander Robert Sarkies. A Shallow Grave-type scenario bumped into a younger age bracket, this comedy-thriller about amateur criminals in over their heads charts a skilfully modulated descent into progressively darker, crazier territory…The setting for the action is a large, dilapidated house—empty and abandoned, but with free electricity—where five assorted scarfies take up rent-free residence… The well-contrasted characters are easygoing, trustworthy Scott (Neill Rea), who tries hard to adhere to his responsible side; smart, pragmatic Emma (Willa O’Neill), shocked by her own moral flexibility; nerdy, virginal Graham (Charlie Bleakley), an innocent capable of cruelty; Alex (Taika Cohen), a roguish charmer with a ruthless streak; and Nicole (Ashleigh Seagar), the voice of reason… The tight script by the director and his brother Duncan Sarkies steadily accelerates.”—David Rooney, Variety