Three Blind Mice

Deceptively freewheeling, this taut psychological drama follows three young Australian naval officers on shore-leave who decide to hit the streets of Sydney before being shipped out to Iraq. The dynamic between the three friends is uneasy, and is tinged with malice: Sam (Ewen Leslie) has more than one reason to be looking for a way out; Dean (Toby Schmitz) is anxious to reconnect with his girlfriend and is burdened by guilt; Harry (director and writer Matthew Newton) is full of attitude and bent on a night of excess. The nursery-rhyme line that follows the film's smart title acutely describes the narrative drive of Newton's punchy script, propelled by rapid-fire ease of dialogue, the growing tension between the friends, and the frenetic on-the-town action. The focus shifts from how they run to why they run, when the uncomfortable secret that simultaneously binds and divides them is finally revealed.