But the “fresh eyes” Travis aims to bring are something Charlie says they could have used 20 years ago, when cops took two weeks even to begin the investigation, and then came after all the Black men in town. Holed up in the Limbo Motel, in a room that’s like an underground grotto carved out of sandstone, Travis listens to tapes from the coercive original questioning of suspects and attempts to talk to anyone who might be able to shed new light on an unexplained loss that still festers. But his investigative manner is less hardboiled than sadly world-weary, registering no reaction when the victim’s brother Charlie (Rob Collins) tells him, “I don’t talk to cops, especially white ones.” Travis picked up a heroin habit during his time on the drug squad he freely admits he doesn’t much like anyone, and no one likes him. He continually positions the characters in arresting mid- or long-shots that emphasize their tiny place in a vast, inhospitable environment with neither comforts nor escape.īaker plays detective Travis Hurley, who rolls into town on assignment to review the unsolved case of Charlotte Hayes, a young Indigenous woman who went missing 20 years earlier. His choice to shoot here (on locations in and around Cooper Pedy, in northern S.A.) in widescreen black and white yields knockout results, showcasing an impeccable eye for composition. Sen is a virtual one-man band, handling cinematography, music and editing duties in addition to writer-director-producer.

Venue: Berlin Film Festival (Competition)Ĭast: Simon Baker, Rob Collins, Natasha Wanganeen, Nicolas Hope, Mark Coe, Joshua Warrior Led by an almost unrecognizable Simon Baker as a jaded cop, Limbo weaves in themes of racial inequity, broken individuals and fractured families to build quiet potency.

The bone-dry, pockmarked earth, where many locals live in underground dugouts to escape the extreme heat and dust clouds, provides a bracingly atmospheric setting for this distinctive cold-case procedural. Ivan Sen’s transfixing detective story takes its title from a remote, fictional opal mining town in the South Australian desert, surrounded by a ravaged landscape of craters and dirt mounds that evokes some barren, faraway planet in the stunning drone shots that punctate the film.

Actor simon baker