Birdeater (2025)

"Quite the Dread-Filled Trip"

The nightmarish (and occasionally Lynchian) feature debut of Australian writer-directors Jack Clark and Jim Weir is getting a cinema and digital release from Blue Finch.

Louis and Irene are planning on getting married. Louis organises a bucks' party with a crucial difference: Irene is invited and so is one of her female friends. They travel to a remote crumbling building in the country to spend one day and one night partying. Once there alcohol is consumed, drugs are taken, and the party games commence.

And it's when these games commence that things start to get weird, as it turns out Louis and Irene's relationship isn't as straightforward as their friends think, although we, the viewer, have been party to few strange goings-on earlier that are explained as the film progresses.

It's a bit difficult to say any more about BIRDEATER without spoiling it. At the beginning we glimpse an out of focus poster for Ted Kotcheff's 1971 WAKE IN FRIGHT, and, like that film, BIRDEATER is to an extent about toxic Australian masculinity. But there's a lot more complex stuff about interpersonal relationships in here as well, suffice to say that Clark and Weir's film is deserving of the accolades and prizes that have already been bestowed upon it. If you fancy a decent slice of Australian dread then BIRDEATER is just the ticket. Here's a trailer:

BIRDEATER is out from Blue Finch Releasing in cinemas on Friday 9th May 2025 and on digital on Monday 26th May 2025