Netflix’s Hard-R, Hardcore Sci-Fi Thriller Goes Full On Mad Max

By Robert Scucci
| Published 13 seconds ago

Given the Mad Max franchise’s influence on the pop culture landscape since it kicked off in 1979, it’s easy to call any post-apocalyptic road thriller set in the Australian Outback a cheap imitation. The way I’ve made peace with that kind of assessment is by appreciating the fact that Mad Max created its own distinct genre, where there’s plenty of room for filmmakers to work out similar concepts while still offering their own take. 2014’s The Rover, written and directed by David Michôd, is a shining example of using the punishing Australian desert as a backdrop to tell his story about a society well into its ongoing collapse.

With Guy Pearce leading the charge with support from Robert Pattinson, The Rover is a violent journey across barren landscapes inhabited by people who’ve been forgotten by the rest of the world. It’s a lawless land, but there are still clear power structures at play. Watching those structures slowly fall apart makes for a satisfying watch because society collapsed recently enough for people to remember the before times, but not so recently that they aren’t aware of where things are heading.

A Rampage For A Stolen Car

Before The Rover’s conflict is properly established, we’re introduced to Archie (David Field), Caleb (Tawanda Manyimo), and Henry (Scoot McNairy). They’re fleeing a robbery, and with them is Rey (Robert Pattinson), Henry’s younger brother. Having been injured during the robbery, Rey is kicked out of the vehicle and left for dead. During the scuffle, their car crashes, prompting them to steal a new getaway vehicle.

Unfortunately for the gang, they stole a car belonging to a nomadic loner named Eric (Guy Pearce). Having lived through society’s initial collapse roughly 10 years earlier, which resulted in the loss of his family and his farm, Eric doesn’t take too kindly to the thieves and immediately sets out to hunt them down, obstacles be damned. Stumbling upon a gravely injured Rey, who he knows was at the very least indirectly responsible for his car getting stolen, Eric brings him to a doctor to nurse him back to health before grilling him on his brother’s whereabouts.

Along the way, Eric has violent encounters with a gun-dealing dwarf operating out of an opium den, traveling circus members, and what’s left of the Australian Army, who still try to exert power over the country’s citizens despite lacking the firepower they once had. Rey, dragged along and not fully himself due to his injuries, proves to be more burden than leverage, complicating matters for Eric, who just wants to retrieve his car and get back to being a miserable drunk wandering through the wasteland.

A Madmaxian Action Flick That Stands On Its Own

While the obvious Mad Max setup can be found in The Rover, it never once feels like a carbon copy of the franchise that inspired it. We’ve got the Australian desert, car chases, and showdowns packed with firepower, but given how wide-reaching the lore is in Mad Max, there’s plenty of room for films like The Rover to occupy similar thematic territory while traveling a completely different road. Using that template as a jumping-off point, The Rover tells a more personal story about loss and revenge that would work just as well in any other setting.

Michôd has gone on record about the similarities, stating, “You put cars in the desert in Australia and people are going to think of Mad Max, and with all due respect to that film, I think The Rover is going to be way more chillingly authentic and menacing.” He’s not wrong in that assessment because there are no nitro trucks and masked marauders here. There’s no sprawling folklore that feels almost biblical. Instead, we get a raw glimpse of humanity barely hanging on by a thread, and we witness the continued collapse of society while it’s still actively happening.

As of this writing, The Rover is streaming on Netflix.