I found this film by accident as I didn't realise that they had made a sequel to the very intriguing and dark Mystery Road.

Our lead is sent on a case again in the middle of nowhere in Australia, but he is a wreck (not surprising when you look back on the first film). Anyhow, he ends up having to liaise with a local cop who is passive on all the ills he sees round him, and each is a foil for the other. There is mass corruption and life to some others is worthless, or local cop can end up in either direction, especially as he takes an emotional investment in the goings on of Human Trafficking of young Chinese women.

So what we have is a case of redemption. Will the local cop leave the world as it is, or challenge the immorality? Everyone else seems to just play along, but our lead says no! Will the local cop back him or not?

Like the first film, this is sumptuous, and the real star is the glorious cinematography, which contrasts the dark heart of the human soul. Yet we have hope in it all.

Our lead is as intriguing as ever, and his own failings are something that endear you to him. I'm very happy they made this film, as we continue the journey. There's a Mad Max element to the lead character & story (albeit no fantasy),but it's still violent and unforgiving.

Again, this is a case worth investigating, and I can't wait to the next film in this series. Very dark yet very beautiful to watch, there's a heart in this movie and you will find it. Deserves better than the ratings so far have given it credit for.

Goldstone is a sequel to Mystery Road which I thought was a deadly dull and disappointing thriller.

Goldstone is slightly better going for that scandi noir on the Australian outback vibe. It is still a slow burner and has plenty of things that it shares with Mystery Road. The dark underbelly of the Australian outback, corruption and long range rifle shooting.

We first see a drunk Detective Jay Swan (Aaron Pedersen) being arrested by a young cop Josh Waters who discovers that the man he has put in the cell is a cop. Swan has gone to the small outback settlement of Goldstone searching for a missing Asian girl.

No one wants to talk to him. Goldstone might get some life with a potentially lucrative mining deal built on corruption. It also has some Chinese sex slaves who have been trafficked. Swan join forces with Waters to investigate further. The locals are not happy, it is a good job Swan is aiming to improve his shooting skills.

The most memorable part of the film is when Swan gives a lift to an Aboriginal elder played by David Gulpilil who tells Swan that he knew his father and the perils of worshipping money.

The film lacks originality. I thought the rock that Swan is shooting from was the same one where Hugo Weaving did something similar in Mystery Road. The pace is just too languid.

GOLDSTONE is another slow-burning Australian mystery thriller, a follow up to MYSTERY ROAD that once more sees detective Jay Swan arriving in a small town to uncover a conspiracy of death. It's a film that suffers somewhat from an entirely predictable kind of plot, one which you've seen play out dozens of times in the past, but which benefits from some very good direction and in particular excellent and atmospheric photography of the various locations used. The cast is also decent, with the casting director particularly deserving kudos for including a couple of welcome roles for old timers (David Gulpilil and, incredibly, Shaw Brothers starlet Cheng Pei-Pei). Things build carefully to an appropriately exciting climax, and it's all rather involving if you can spare the time it takes to get there.