Kiss or Kill

Set amidst the eerie desolation of the Australian outback, Kiss or Kill is a superior reworking of vintage film noir materials from the veteran director Bill Bennett. Its lovers-on-the-run story focuses on Nicole (Frances O'Connor) and Al (Matt Day), a pair of petty thieves running a scam targeting ...more

This grim neo-noir isn't as polished as, say, Michael Winterbottom's I Want You, but its tight screenplay is full of excellent throwaway details, mordant wit, and subtle insight. Writer, director, and producer Bill Bennett keeps things flatly realistic rather than explicitly gritty, his jump cuts adding to the paranoid air but also detracting a bit from the flow. Meanwhile, lead actors Frances O'Connor and Matt Day, both veterans of Love and Other Catastrophes, seethe with unexpressed anxiety ...more