From the award-winning director Glendyn Ivin (Palme D’Or for Short Film, ‘Cracker Bag’) comes a heartbreakingly tender coming-of-age road movie.
Kev, a petty-crim, and his ten year-old son, Chook, are on the run. Dumping their car they travel by bus, into the unforgiving outback. Arriving in a small town they land on the doorstep of Kev’s ex-girlfriend, Maryanne. She’s not pleased to see Kev, but finds it hard to resist his charm. Chook wants to stay with her, but the secrets he shares with his Dad forces them to keep moving. Hitchhiking, they travel across the barren plains of the interior and bed down for the night in old Afghan museum. Here Chook learns a little of his heritage and is captured by the magic of the Persian costumes and photos of the past. While Chook sleeps Kev ducks out for food but is drawn to the local pub. A news story on TV reveals why they are running. Max, a friend, has been murdered and the police are on the hunt. Kev realises he is in more trouble than he bargained for, but keeps it to himself. He returns to the museum to find Chook has befriended and confided in a local Muslim doctor. Suspicious Chook has told the doctor too much Kev angrily assaults her and steals her car. On the road again Kev and Chook drive through landscape Kev once shared with his own brutal father. They drift into a National Park, where they lay low in a hidden camp amongst giant river gums. Kev’s wish to gift Chook a ‘real bush experience’, results in a lousy attempt to teach his son to swim, which sparks a feeble but ominous retaliation from Chook. Despite Kev’s insensitivity and the pressure of knowing that the police are on their trail, father and son find some common ground and begin to bond. Returning from a morning swim, they find their camp overrun by police. Panicked, Kev steals a 4WD and they flee cross-country, further into the desert and the unknown. Lack of food, water and sleep find them taking a short cut across a salt lake, another familiar landmark from Kev’s past. Here Kev confesses to Chook that Max is dead. Angry and confused Chook attacks his father who dumps him in the middle of the salt to teach him a lesson. Seemingly abandoned Chook discovers the inner strength to make it to the other side, where Kev finds his son transformed into a disturbingly different boy.
An altercation at a roadhouse sees Kev attack the owner and steal a rifle, all under Chook’s steely gaze. They travel silently through the night to a remote desert camp where Kev reckons Chook may have been conceived. Chook becomes increasingly suspicious of his father’s assurances that ‘everything will be fine’. He realises to survive he must decide how their story will end and is forced to take action that will have devastating consequences for father and son.
Poetically spare and emotionally tense, ‘Last Ride’ is an unforgettable love story between parent and child.
