Flashbacks just muddy the waters in The Dry sequel Force of Nature

112 minutes (M)

2 stars

After the success of the film adaptation of Jane Harper's Aussie mystery novel The Dry back in 2020, Eric Bana and co are back for the next instalment.

Clunkily named Force of Nature: The Dry 2, this story is considerably less arid than its predecessor, instead taking place in a fictional rainforest called the Giralang Ranges.

Bana's federal police detective Aaron Falk is pulled into his latest case after an informant he has been working with goes missing during her company's corporate retreat in the rainforest.

Where The Dry was filled with some familiar faces but not too many big names, Force of Nature has upped the star power for the second outing.

Bana, who is also a producer, is joined by the likes of Jacqueline McKenzie, Anna Torv, Richard Roxburgh and Deborra-Lee Furness in her first on-screen film role in 15 years (though she did make a TV appearance in Hyde and Seek back in 2016).

One of the fresher faces in the cast, however, arguably delivers the most memorable performance. Sisi Stringer, who has appeared in the Mortal Kombat film and as the lead character in the ill-fated television adaptation of Vampire Academy, steals most of her scenes as Beth and easily holds her own against titans of the Australian film industry.

In Force of Nature, which is again directed by Robert Connolly, Falk, his partner Carmen (McKenzie, not given a lot to work with) and local police and search and rescue officers are in a race against the clock to find Alice (Torv) who was not with her group when they were recovered after going missing in the forest.

The elements and difficult terrain are against the searchers, and as the rest of the group have only a vague idea of what ground they'd covered, the area that needs searching is immense.

One of the biggest ticks this film gets is its showcasing of Australian scenery. The Dandenong Ranges stood in for the book's Giralang Ranges for filming, and make for a stunning stage for the drama. This scene is filled out with great use of Australian birdcalls throughout, a nice touch from the sound department that adds to the realism.

The audience learns how the group, which is comprised of five women from the same company, came to be lost in the forest, far from the track they were supposed to be walking, as each of them tells Falk and Carmen what happened.

Unfortunately, this film structure - reliant on flashbacks - works to the detriment of character-building. With the exception of Alice, most of the other characters don't feel fleshed out. We get very little sense of who they are as people, and as such it's difficult to really care about their struggles. That's what makes Stringer's work so impressive - working with very little, she managed to make a big impact.

Torv should also be commended for delivering such a thoroughly unlikable character. Alice, we're told, is a bully, and Torv certainly imbues her with the sort of haughty "can-I-speak-to-the-manager" energy that's easily hated.

Mixed in with the flashbacks of the women's trek is Falk's own childhood memories in the same mountain range. Where in the first film Falk's memories were a thoroughly important part of the story, and helped solve a long mystery, this time around they don't feel connected to anything, and the script works too hard to incorporate them.

Those flashbacks could easily be cut and the film would not lose a thing.

There's also a sub-plot about the possible hide-out of an incarcerated serial killer which doesn't quite land as well as it should.

While Force of Nature is messier than it's predecessor it still has a somewhat decent mystery, and the story takes some enjoyable twists and turns as we try to figure out just what happened to Alice.