A fine addition to the Aussie crime thriller cannon, Locusts embraces the grit, grim, and uncompromising violence that the genre is known for, packaged around a twist-filled story with a surprising ethical slant to its core.

There is no doubt that Locusts director Heath David and writer Angus Watts love a good ol’ Aussie crime movie. It can be felt in every frame of their film, that was shot in Broken Hill (location of iconic Aussie films Mad Max, Wolf Creek, and more), and features scenes of a supped-up V8 Mach 1 Mustang roaring through the Outback.

Yet Locusts is no mere clone of films made before it, even though it is sure to join their legendary ranks. Gritty, violent, and featuring a twist filled screenplay that will keep you guessing until the end, Locusts reminds just how good Australian indie filmmakers are when it comes to delivering grotty genre fair.

The film star Ben Geurens as Ryan Black, a successful tech-entrepreneur who returns to his outback hometown for the funeral of his abusive father Stan (Malcom Kennard). Hoping to convince his estranged brother Tyson (Nathaniel Dean) to leave their godforsaken town, Ryan becomes ensnared in an extortion plot when his brother is kidnapped by local drug kingpin McCrea (Alan Dukes). Desperate, he turns to his old flame Izzy (Jessica McNamee) for help.

Limited in budget, yet high in character driven action drama, David effectively uses the sparse Broken Hill setting to create a chilling landscape chilling landscape. Full of mythology and foreboding presence, the perfect setting for crime films where secrets and bodies are buried in the same unmarked graves. In the case of Locusts, those secrets and bodies have rotted the land and spirit of a small town reeling the loss if tis biggest industry, and found itself under the grip of a drug epidemic. It’s an epidemic that Watts has seen firsthand and utilities to excellent effect in his debut screenplay, which Davis brings to life on the screen with uncompromising vision that is not quite in the realm of exploitation, but defintielt tips its toe into that world to create a pulpy, white-knuckle tight crime thriller.

Performances from all involved are excellent. In is portrayal of a man whose inability to escape from the demons of his small town upbringing, Geurens delivers the right amount of desperateness and paranoia to his role of a reformed small town boy who cannot escape the sins of his father. Great too is Jessica McNamee as the straight shooting, no BS taking single mum who will have any man’s balls in a vice is they looked at her the wrong way. Then there is the crew of veteran character actors who portray the grimy, feral, yet dangerously calculated killers that torment Ryan with glee. Among them the always solid Steve Le Marquand, the late great Damian Hill, and the vastly underrated Alan Dukes as the wheelchair bound crime boss who is always carrying heat.

A sun-drenched, gun blasting, engine revving genre piece presented with skill and performed with gusto, Locusts has secured its place as the next great Aussie crime movie.