Mad Bastards

Year: 2010

Duration: 94 min

Thomas - called TJ in more familiar settings - is a western Australian aborigine currently living in Perth. He has lived his entire life in a culture of aggression, mostly of a physical nature, that violence often fueled by excessive substance use. It is because of that violence that he and his incarcerated brother are estranged from their mother, who does not approve of their behavior. A visit with both his brother and his mum lead to TJ, who has no money, finally deciding to hitchhike to Five Rivers in the Kimberley region of northwestern Australia to see Nella, the wife he abandoned thirteen years ago. The trip is more to meet Bullet, the son he has never met. TJ has no idea about Nella and Bullet's life, Bullet who is well on his way to repeating the cycle of violence, he being sent to a juvenile detention camp for arson, he not having had the maturity to understand the consequences of throwing a Molotov cocktail. Bullet's behavior is due to not having any continual and stable parental influence, Nella who also drinks to excess and is prone to that same violence with her adult acquaintances. TJ, who makes the trip more as something that he needs to do as a father before it's too late for him to have any sort of relationship with Bullet, will find out that his reunion with Nella and his meeting with Bullet will be affected by local police officer Texas Wilcox, who has a special connection to mother and son and who is trying to break the cycle not only with Bullet but in general by forming a men's group where any issues in their lives can be discussed rather than be rectified through fighting.—Huggo

Genre: Action   Drama