Newcastle

Being a teenager is an emotional battleground when you have to face expectations from your family, your friends, your own potential... Jesse is a typical teenage surfer living in the shadow of his older brother's failure and a seemingly inescapable blue collar future in the local shipyard. Meanwhile, his other brother Fergus is facing challenges of his own and secretly in love with his best friend. A weekend surfing trip with their friends ends in tragedy and marks the transition to manhood and choosing their own path.

The story is threadbare but Don Castle successfully channels the breathless energy of youth and potential. The kids are disarmingly good and the backdrop of Australia’s surfing community and the failure lurking under the surface gives it an edge and a refreshing sense of reality. The cinematography is the biggest success, often impressive and frequently downright staggering. It might have a relatively lightweight story but Newcastle is hard to ignore. Visionary and electric. [Scotty McKellar]