Thereโs only one hole in โThe Fox,โ a shrewdly conceived and meticulously plotted black comedy in which a magical ditch exists where people can deposit their lovers and have them come out the other side far more malleable in terms of the partners theyโd want them to be. The issue becomes throwing in a little too much, both for the characters and for writer-director Dario Russo, who may have a few too many good story ideas to fully flesh out. Yet, he delivers a promising and imaginative feature debut.
Hailing from Causeway Films, the Australian production outfit behind โThe Babadookโ and โTalk To Me,โ the film portrays a different kind of terror running through the outback. โThe Foxโ follows two deeply discontented couples in a small town where both friends and potential love interests are in short supply, leading to some marriages of convenience. There may be fewer scenes in the Causeway oeuvre more chilling than a wordless opening when Kori (Emily Browning) gives a contemptuous once-over to the pile of greasy food in front of her at a pub while her boyfriend Nick (Jai Courtney) is fetching some pints. As she is wondering if this is her future, he slides an engagement ring next to French fries upon his return. The son of the wealthiest landowner in town, Nick promises security, but not much else. In fact, Koriโs already been cheating on him with her animal control bureau co-worker Derek (Damon Herriman), though she doesnโt have much affection for him either, and worries about the affair being discovered by his wife Diana (Claudia Doumit) when the two go jogging together in the mornings.
But itโs not any of the townspeople who risk spilling the beans. Rather, itโs the surrounding wildlife who see and hear everything. Theyโre terribly gossipy, most specifically a fox voiced by Olivia Colman and a magpie given a gruff timbre by Sam Neill. The filmmaker shows a strong handle over the filmโs fanciful tone and fitfully filthy sense of humor, and heโs credited with composing the filmโs score full of squawking brass instruments and skittish strings in addition to writing, directing and editing. He also has the good sense to not overdo the conceit, since clearly the animals are not hyperreal CG creations but well-crafted animatronics that make it even funnier when they start to talk to the anxiety-ridden humans, with the fox informing Nick about the hole where he really might make an honest woman out of Kori.
The result has the potential to tear Nick apart in every way imaginable, and surely will send a few viewers running to the exits. The notion of Kori as a feral creature to be tamed is also sure to rub some the wrong way. But itโs really sold by a fully committed Browning and Courtney, who continues to show a different set of muscles than the ones heโs known for when poking fun at wounded masculinity as he did in โDangerous Animals.โ
However, there are some ways in which โThe Foxโ doesnโt seem to go far enough, beginning with some introductory narration from Colman about how peculiar humans look to animals with their unique ability to be miserable all the time. Whileย Russo continually bends the narrative in surprising directions when it transpires that the hole has a deeper history than the central quartet could know, the film can feel as if itโs occasionally losing the plot when itย only sporadically returns to that original idea. It does yield one great scene of a post-hole Kori wondering why Nickโs father is so dour with nothing but open pastures around him and seemingly too few of the talking animals who can be counted on for an unexpected observation and a laugh. Still, when Russo looks to find human nature in another species, he seems to get the best of both worlds as he puts a finger on how that abstract feeling of being all alone in a relationship can lead the mind to wander to funny places. In โThe Fox,โ those places are even funnier than usual.
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