15 Essential Films You Might've Missed From This Decade (So Far)

9. The Snowtown Murders

For the most part, movies about serial killers tend to be glossy and stylish affairs in which elaborate set-pieces take centre stage and the tone conforms to horror genre tropes. Snowtown is the antithesis to these traditional films. Justin Kurzel's directing style couldn't be further removed from the sheen of Hollywood if it tried - the characters depicted in Snowtown are as messed up and grimy as the grotty squalor in which they live, while Kurzel's camerawork is restless, resisting easy framing and neat compositions. More importantly, the horror which unfolds is completely lacking in exploitation making the string of murders carried out by John Bunting and his conspirators even more gut-wrenching. It's very rare that a horror movie based on a true story ends up a satisfyingly grim viewing experience but Snowtown is just that - a bleak, demanding test of the resilience of the viewer's gut unlike anything seen in recent years.