Best Australian films since 1991

Molly, Daisy, and Gracie at the rabbit fence

What began during a conversation with Dan and Jody a few weeks ago about good Australian Cinema, and continued last night as a list of Australian film recommendations for Shoham and Michel from the local video store, debuts here as the preliminary list of best Australian movies in the last fifteen years. The following list is compiled from a combination of unreliable memory traces, favourite actor preferences, and IMDb assaults undertaken by Yours Truly. It may not be the most systematic list ever put together. Do you spot any errors or omissions? Leave a comment. Let’s sort this out.

(All movie links point to Wikipedia.)

The Keating years (1991–1996)

The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert (1994)

Bad Boy Bubby (1993)

Cosi (1996)

Dating the Enemy (1996)

Dead Heart (1996)

Flirting (1991)

Hercules Returns (1993)

Idiot Box (1996)

Love and Other Catastrophes (1996)

Love Serenade (1996)

Muriel’s Wedding (1994)

The Nostradamus Kid (1993)

Proof (1991)

Romper Stomper (1992)

Shine (1996)

Spotswood [The Efficiency Expert] (1992)

Strictly Ballroom (1992)

The Sum of Us (1994)

The Howard years (1996–2007)

Alexandra’s Project (2003)

The Bank (2001)

Beneath Clouds (2002)

Better Than Sex (2000)

The Boys (1998)

Candy (2006)

The Castle (1997)

Chopper (2000)

Dirty Deeds (2002)

The Dish (2000)

Erskineville Kings (1999)

Feeling Sexy (1999)

Gettin’ Square (2003)

The Hard Word (2002)

Head On (1997)

He Died With a Felafel in His Hand (2001)

Holy Smoke (1999)

Innocence (2000)

The Interview (1998)

Jindabyne (2006)

Kenny (2006)

Kiss or Kill (1997)

Lantana (2001)

Little Fish (2005)

Look Both Ways (2005)

Looking for Alibrandi (2000)

Ned Kelly (2003)

Oscar and Lucinda (1997)

Oyster Farmer (2004)

Praise (1998)

The Proposition (2005)

Rabbit-Proof Fence (2002)

Redball (1999)

Romulus, My Father (2007)

Somersault (2004)

Suburban Mayhem (2006)

Ten Canoes (2006)

Thank God He Met Lizzie (1997)

Two Hands (1999)

Wolf Creek (2005)

The Rudd years (2007–2010)

Animal Kingdom (2010)

Acolytes (2008)

The Black Balloon (2008)

The Combination (2009)

The Horseman (2008)

Last Ride (2009)

Love the Beast (2009)

Mary and Max (2009)

My Year Without Sex (2009)

Noise (2007)

Red Hill (2010)

The Square (2008)

The Gillard years (2010–2013)

Burning Man (2011)

The Eye of the Storm (2011)

Felony (2013)

Griff the Invisible (2010)

The King is Dead! (2012)

Mystery Road (2013)

Toomelah (2011)

X (2011)

The Abbott years (2013–2015)

The Babadook (2014)

Charlie’s Country (2013)

Mad Max: Fury Road (2015)

The Rover (2014)

The Turnbull years (2015–)

¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Contenders

2:37 (2006)

A Man’s Gotta Do (2004)

Angel Baby (1995)

Australian Rules (2002)

Bad Eggs (2003)

Balibo (2009)

Beautiful Kate (2009)

Bedevil (1993)

Beneath Hill 60 (2010)

Bigger Than Tina (1999)

Blackrock (1997)

Blessed (2009)

Bootmen (2000)

Boytown (2006)

Bright Star (2009)

The Caterpillar Wish (2006)

Charlie & Boots (2009)

Clubland (2007)

Cracker Jack (2002)

Cunnamulla (2000)

The Final Winter (2007)

Floodhouse (2003)

Healing (2014)

Here I Am (2011)

The Home Song Stories (2007)

The Jammed (2007)

Japanese Story (2003)

The Last Days of Chez Nous (1992)

Last Train to Freo (2006)

Life (1996)

Lou (2010)

The Loved Ones (2009)

Mad Bastards (2010)

The Magician (2005)

Mental (2012)

The Mule (2014)

Occasional Coarse Language (1998)

Oranges and Sunshine (2010)

Paperback Hero (1999)

Peaches (2004)

The Quiet Room (1996)

Radiance (1998)

Red Dog (2011)

The Reef (2011)

Road to Nhill (1997)

Samson and Delilah (2009)

Silent Partner (2001)

Sleeping Beauty (2011)

Snowtown (2011)

Spider and Rose (1994)

Stone Bros. (2009)

Sweet Country (2017)

Three Blind Mice (2008)

Three Dollars (2005)

The Tracker (2002)

The Wog Boy (2000)

Undead (2003)

Van Diemen’s Land (2009)

Waiting (1991)

Wasted on the Young (2010)

What I Have Written (1996)

Welcome to Woop Woop (1997)

Wyrmwood: Road of the Dead (2014)

Certificate of participation

Jucy (2010)

Not Suitable for Children (2012)

Rules for inclusion

To plug for having a movie added to or subtracted from the list, please keep the following points in mind. An “Australian movie” is taken to be any movie that is set, filmed and produced mostly in Australia. Examples: Oscar and Lucinda is an adaptation of a Peter Carey novel, set in Australia, therefore it’s Australian. The Matrix was filmed in Australia, co-produced by an Australian company, and stars many Australian actors and the city of Sydney, but since is not set in Sydney and since all characters have an American accent, it is not Australian. Similarly, though Finding Nemo was set in Australia, and starred some Australian actors, it was produced, written and directed by Americans in the U.S., and is therefore not Australian. Finally, since most movies begin production at least a year before they are released, Keating gets all of 1996, even though he lost the bloody election in March of that year.

Major updates

I’ve added films, here and there, since I first posted this list—but there have been a couple of major updates:

February, 2009: Included many additional films in Contenders list based on suggestions received in the comments (see details).

July, 2012: More films added to Contenders based on new comments (see details), along with missing titles thanks to GoMA’s list of women in contemporary Australian film (thanks E).

February, 2016: Updated links to point to Wikipedia instead of IMDb.

April, 2018: Turned off comments (because spam ?), but email me if you have something to say and I’ll turn them on again.