The general opinion regarding post-apocalypse thriller The Rover seemed to be along the lines of: "Well, that was a bit disappointing, but Guy Pearce and Robert Pattinson were good." But to write off The Rover so quickly is to insult its inherently understated and stripped-back power; here's a movie that is loaded with narrative faults, but is somehow made more interesting as a result. If that sounds like poppycock, consider that The Rover has more in common with the western genre that it does any end of the world flick; its apparent lack of depth is a strength, not a weakness. Which is another way of saying that The Rover, for all its artsy pretences, thrives in its ability to let audiences fill in the blanks for themselves. It's a picture that is perfectly happy to exist almost entirely as an atmosphere; as a feeling. The fact that it's punctuated with moments of extreme violence (and questionable madness) looks to have alienated many, who could not make heads or tails of The Rover's cinematic trappings. But this is - without question - a picture destined for cult status. If it's no masterpiece, it's certainly a whole lot better than that 66% score on Rotten Tomatoes purports.
Sam Hill is an ardent cinephile and has been writing about film professionally since 2008. He harbours a particular fondness for western and sci-fi movies.
