The highly anticipated First Nations psychological horror film The Moogai will be released in cinemas in Australia on 31 October 2024, it was announced today.
The film enjoyed its World Premiere at the Sundance Film Festival earlier this year, and its Australian Premiere at the 2024 Sydney Film Festival, where it won the GIO Audience Award for Best Australian Feature. Last week, it screened at the 2024 Melbourne International Film Festival and is a film prize finalist in this month’s 2024 CinefestOZ Film Festival in WA.
In a four-star review for ScreenHub in June, Stephen A Russell wrote:
‘It’s a rare occasion, these days, that I’d argue that a film should be longer, but it speaks to the power of Bell’s story that an extra scene or even a beat here and there would further tease out the strength of what’s already there. By the time we get to the matriarchal power of the fire-lit “final women” battle, the film underlines that the Moogai is less important than the scars it crawled through.
‘Superbly captured by cinematographer Sean Ryan, this sequence rips open the old wounds of the Stolen Generation, yet offers the hope of healing. Mighty stuff that reminds this always was and always will be Aboriginal land.’
Starring Shari Sebbens (The Sapphires, Thor: Love and Thunder), Meyne Wyatt (We Are Still Here), Tessa Rose (Top End Wedding), Clarence Ryan (Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga), Toby Leonard Moore (Mank), and Bella Heathcote (Relic, Pride and Prejudice and Zombies), The Moogai is produced by Kristina Ceyton and Samantha Jennings of Causeway Films (The Babadook, Talk To Me), and Mitchell Stanley of No Coincidence Media (We Are Still Here).
The film is the directorial feature debut from writer Jon Bell and is based on his acclaimed short film of the same name.
As per the films blurb, via Maslow Entertainment:
Sarah and Fergus, a hopeful young Aboriginal couple, give birth to their second baby. But what should be a joyous time of their lives becomes sinister when Sarah starts seeing a malevolent spirit she is convinced is trying to take her baby. Fergus, who can’t see it but desperately wants to believe her, grows increasingly worried as she becomes more unbalanced. Is the child-stealing spirit real or is she in fact the biggest threat to the safety of their family?
The Moogai received major production investment from Screen Australia’s First Nations Department in association with Screen NSW through the Made in NSW Fund and Regional Filming Fund, and financed with support from Spectrum Films, Kojo Studios, Anahat Films, Salmira Productions and Head Gear Films. Post, digital and visual effects supported by Screen NSW.
Post production, digital and visual effects on The Moogai have also been supported by the SAFC through the SA PDV Rebate.