Force of Nature: The Dry 2 - Servicable

 

Streaming on AMC+

Rent on Apple TV and Amazon Prime

    Regular readers of my blog may recall my high praise for The Dry, an Australian murder mystery from 2021 (technically released in 2020 but not in the U.S. until the following year). I found the film to be an excellent story with superb commentary on the dangers of dishonesty. It received a glowing review and ranked #2 in my Top 5 films of that year. Like any good film, there wasn't any need to expand on the world created therein with sequels or spin-offs, but the possibility was at least open to a degree. Thus, the same creative team from before has jumped on that very notion and put together a new story with the same stoic detective, lovingly portrayed by Eric Bana, a guy who should really be more famous than he is. 

    While the sequel boasts the same overall quality as the first film in terms of character and presentation, there are aspects of the execution that don't quite hit the mark as they did before. Not to mention, the overall story, while engaging in some areas, is not as engrossing as the film wants it to be, resulting in a film that is, as the title of this review says, merely serviceable and not much else. An unfortunate disappointment from such a resounding beginning with the first film. 

    Based on Jane Harper's novel, the story follows Detective Falk (Eric Bana) as he assists in a situation where a missing person is in the Australian woodlands. The missing person is a criminal informant for Falk, who was preparing to provide incriminating information about the company she works for but was stalled by a company retreat hiking trip. While searching for his C.I., Detective Falk also takes this opportunity to reconcile with a past childhood trauma related to his mother, which just so happened to take place in the exact location. As more secrets are revealed and personal motivations come to light, not to mention an impending storm on the horizon, Detective Falk has to hope he can still solve the mystery before the storm cleans away his efforts. 

    This film has enough texture to render its viewing effective but lacks the same nuance and visceral execution as its predecessor. 

    The story abruptly switches between two different timelines of the events (with a third in the form of Detective Falk's memories of his missing mother) with little visual distinction or establishment. There is an unjustified breaking of the show-don't-tell rule with the shady corporation Detective Falk is seeking information about (the film never showcases what the company is doing or why outside of some clunky and vague expositional dialogue about money laundering through charity donations). There's also a running subplot about a historical serial killer who once resided in the area that falls dead in its tracks with no satisfactory payoff. In short, this film does the bare minimum!

    However, despite that, the film still delivers strong performances, bits of witty writing, and enough of a fleshed-out mystery to warrant at least a single curious viewing. 

    Force of Nature: The Dry 2 is a disappointing sequel that could have been so much more than it is. As it stands now, it's a serviceable film with enough texture for a quick afternoon watch, but it will likely fade away from your memory the next day. At the very least, it functions as a friendly reminder of a better first film, which, if you still haven't seen yet, I encourage you to do so. You are not missing out on anything with this unfortunate sequel. 

Ladies & gentlemen, I am TheNorm; thank you all for reading.