“All the little devils are proud of hell.”
“You mean you don’t think The Yabba is the greatest little place on earth?”
“Could be worse.”
“How?”
“The supply of beer could run out.”
— Wake in Fright, 1971

Quite possibly the greatest Australian film of all time - and certainly the greatest set in the Outback - Wake in Fright is a must-see in the psycho-thriller genre.

The film follows a school teacher named John Grant as he passes through the remote mining town of Bundanyabba (affectionately referred to as The Yabba by its locals) on his way to Sydney.

After draining his wallet in a game of two-up at the local mess hall, John finds himself stranded in Bundanyabba. With nowhere to go and no cash on hand, John is taken in by an aggressive but hospitable band of town drunks bent on showing him a good time, Yabba style. What was planned as a brief pit stop on the way to Sydney quickly spins out of control into a week-long whirlwind of hedonism and debauchery.

Although he can leave at any time he wants, John’s new friends know how to keep him acquiescent; The insistive “how ‘bout another beer, mate?” is uttered by someone at least every five minutes in the film, and - as John comes to learn - turning down such a generosity is an offense worse than murder in The Yabba.

““Wake in Fright is a deeply - and I mean deeply - unsettling and disturbing movie. I saw it when it premiered at Cannes in 1971, and it left me speechless.””

— Martin Scorsese

““The best and most terrifying Australian movie in existence.””

— Nick cave

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Wake in Fright is a cautionary tale, a dark night of the soul set against the hellish vistas of the Outback. It’s also one of the most important (and disturbing) films in Australian cinematic history. Stream it for free below. —Jackson Todd