Deep in the Victorian mountain ranges, a small group of panicked female hikers wave down a jeep. Soon, Federal Agent Aaron Falk (Eric Bana) receives a garbled phone call from a corporate whistle-blower and discovers that they have gone missing in the ranges.

The Dry (2020) was a taut, paired-back hard and slow-boiled mystery set in the neo-western genre. In its sequel, the setting has changed, as has the characters and pacing. While we follow the group of corporate hikers and their interpersonal issues, the narrative also follows Falk and his partner Cooper’s (Jacqueline McKenzie) investigation and also Falk’s childhood experience in the same mountainous area with his parents decades earlier. Whereas the previous outing took its time setting up the environment, ambience, and tone, its sequel is busy filling in its quiet spots in an unnecessary attempt to ramp up the drama and excitement.

As well as the multinarrative, the movie also deals with multi-stories loosely based around a theme of moral ambiguity in the face of the ultimate judge: nature. Money laundering, theft, missing persons, a serial killer and a possible murder cloud the issue of what exactly is at hand. A riff on Rashomon (1950) à la Courage Under Fire (1996) would have concentrated the drama on where it needed to be: with our more than capable cast of characters.

Verdict: An unnecessarily complicated outing that needlessly clouds an otherwise strong story of moral culpability in the corporate world.

3 Stars.

Luke McWilliams, themovieclub.net