Port Arthur movie will be a terrible inspiration says psychologist who interviewed the killer

Monash University Professor Emeritus Paul Mullen said in an ideal world the movie would never be made.

He said there was no simple reason why the killer did what he did. "I'm sure [wanting notoriety] is part of it," Professor Mullen said.

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"In an ideal world his name should never be mentioned again let alone should a movie be made about him. But, it is not an ideal world so I suppose it is inevitable that people write books about him and talk about him.

"In a way, however carefully it is done, it is going to be something which out there another group of disturbed odd young men are going to find, in it's terrible way, inspiring."

Professor Mullen said that people often believed the more monstrous the act, the more likely it was for the perpetrator to be insane. But he said in the case of Port Arthur, the shooter was not psychotic at the time of the killings.

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The movie, which has been filming for about three weeks, is being produced by GoodThing Productions, directed by Justin Kurzel and will be streamed on Stan.

Survivors have labelled it inappropriate and politicians have been unified in their distaste in regards to the movie. Premier Peter Gutwein said the nerve was still too raw, while Arts Minister Elise Archer said she would discuss concerns with the Victorian government.

Speaking to the Sydney Morning Herald, the movie's writer Shaun Grant said he believed evil would repeat itself if a light wasn't shone on it.

He said a spate of mass killings while he lived in Los Angeles had convinced him to try and tell the Port Arthur story.

"We can't assume these people don't exist, that this is a one-off, because it's not," Grant told the SMH. "I was curious - who are these boys, and what can we learn to ensure this is a thing of the past?"

In the same article producer Nick Batzias said the filmmakers were acutely aware of the sensitive nature of the subject matter, but believed it would resonate.

He said no murders would be shown on screen because they did not need to show the victims or murders to remind people about the need for sound gun control.

Earlier this week The Examiner spoke to an expert in the coverage of mass shootings who said no matter how the film was done, it would be dangerous.

They said the more notoriety given to the perpetrators of mass shootings, the more likely it would be that others would be inspired to commit similar acts. Stan and GoodThing Productions both declined to comment on the film to The Examiner. Representation for Justin Kurzel did not respond to requests for comment.

In its original statement announcing the movie, Stan chief content officer Nick Forward said he had complete faith in the filmmakers to handle the subject matter sensitively.

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