Off-Beat, Surrealist Aussie Comedy Is Not As Bizarre As It Ought to Be

Maybe essentially the most hubristic a part of the human mind is the one which thinks it will possibly management itself towards its basest wishes. That is a minimum of the tenuous philosophical premise of The FoxDario Russo’s dry, absurdist darkish comedy. The Australian writer-director making his characteristic debut at SXSW 2026 could protest that his movie is devoid of an ethical story, or so the titular fox (Olivia Colman) appears to argue, however the film’s core arguments are clear: Man is a fickle beast, no totally different from every other within the animal kingdom, whose sexual wishes are outlined by egocentrism.

The Fox is a kooky story, and it’s fairly humorous for a bit, nevertheless it skates by on primarily only one joke for its complete 90 minutes. There is a pleasurable high quality to the flatness of its supply in distinction with the surreality of its world – sort of like Yorgos Lanthimos’ early work out of Greece – however watching the 4 pegs of this love sq. behave in such morally reprehensible methods will get drained fairly rapidly. The central gambit of the movie reveals itself too rapidly, and as soon as it does, The Fox simply repeats itself with diminishing outcomes.

The Fox’s Story Would not Ever Stay Up To Its Stylistic Strangeness

It is not as if Russo’s topsy-turvy premise ought to exhaust itself, however his world-building within the first act by no means satisfies within the second and third. The Fox appears to happen in a magical realist world the place everybody simply accepts that sure animals can speak and are clever – both that, or the principle characters are so wrapped up in their very own messes they do not cease to pause and contemplate it. Regardless of the case, Russo positions humanity as no extra clever than every other species, framing the entire movie like a Planet Earth episode narrated by Colman’s Fox.

In voiceover, the Fox bemoans the human tendency to pepper life with inane platitudes, the worst amongst them, based on her, being “it’s what it’s.” It is the sort of phrase individuals throw out to deal with conditions over which they haven’t any management; The Fox is definitely stuffed with the sorts of conditions people suppose they’ll management. Particularly, forcing a accomplice to like you with out addressing any core points within the relationship.

Right here, on this comparatively distant a part of Australia, veterinarian Kori (Emily Browning) is caught between Nick (Jai Courtney) and Derrick (Damon Herriman), the previous her derpy fiancé, the latter her self-obsessed coworker, with whom she’s been having a not-so-secret affair. Danny’s spouse Diana (Claudia Doumit) is, initially, so self-absorbed and materialistic that she suspects nothing. Nick is so desperate to have love in his life that he cannot see the obviousness of Kori’s mounting disinterest.

However sooner or later, whereas searching together with his father (Frankie J. Holden), Nick comes throughout the Fox, who begs him to not shoot her in trade for a sure-fire method to save his doomed relationship. Nick just isn’t shocked that this animal can communicate, however is unquestionably shocked that Kori is untrue. The Fox insists this character flaw is fixable if he merely drops her into a close-by magical pit, which has the facility to vary anybody’s accomplice into no matter model of them they need.

After Diana uncovers irrefutable proof of her husband’s affair, she and Nick workforce as much as drop Kori within the pit. It is a mutually helpful situation. With Kori “mounted,” the affair ends, and every relationship can return to “regular.” The absurdity of the plan is just matched by its vanity. How are you going to repair one thing that is already been completely damaged? Predictably, the plan would not completely work – nicely, it does on the floor. However when Kori re-emerges bare and lined in mud, it is as if she’s gone by means of intense electroshock remedy, which has turned her into an obedient, sex-obsessed, childlike fawn.

Issues get weirder from there as all 4 characters modify to the domino impact of Kori’s wildly totally different character, however solely simply. It is humorous to observe individuals react in deadpan, Wes Anderson-like method to issues that ought to elicit mounting incredulity, however the novelty fades quick. The revelations concerning the animal group – the wiliness of the foxes, the gossip obsession of the magpie (voiced by Sam Neill), the social rejection of the canines – are tantalizing notions that by no means fairly pan out in actuality.

As quickly as issues begin to unravel in The Foxit is solely a matter of time earlier than every character has their particular type of comeuppance. The movie boasts a twee quirkiness in type, however in its narrative, that promise by no means actually involves fruition. It’s, in different phrases, a way more regular affair than what’s promised. Regardless of many real laughs, that simply interprets right into a disappointing expertise.

The Fox screened on the 2026 SXSW Movie & TV Competition.