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Wake in Fright

Play trailer Poster for Wake in Fright R Released Sep 22, 1971 1h 39m Drama Mystery & Thriller Play Trailer Watchlist
Watchlist Tomatometer Popcornmeter
96% Tomatometer 57 Reviews 83% Popcornmeter 2,500+ Ratings
After finishing up the school term in a remote outback town, teacher John Grant (Gary Bond) looks forward to spending his holiday with his girlfriend in Sydney. But John gets waylaid in a mining town where a gambling spree leaves him completely broke. He quickly falls in with the hard-drinking locals, who constantly ply him with alcohol and force him to participate in a gruesome kangaroo hunt. Disgusted, John tries to hitchhike out of town and, when that fails, begins to contemplate suicide.
Wake in Fright

What to Know

Critics Consensus

A disquieting classic of Australian cinema, Wake in Fright surveys a landscape both sun-drenched and ruthlessly dark.

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Critics Reviews

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Tom Milne Financial Times [Has some] fine photography of the Australian wilds, but also veers into melodrama. Mar 19, 2020 Full Review Derek Malcolm Guardian [It] will will not please the Australian Tourist Board. It may not even please Australians. But it ranks, along with Nicholas Roeg's Walkabout, as the most impressive piece of special pleading about the country I've seen. Mar 19, 2020 Full Review Margaret Hinxman Daily Telegraph (UK) It's a remarkable film and I'm not at all happy with it. Mar 19, 2020 Full Review Trace Thurman Horror Queers Podcast Reaches a level of anxiety-inducing terror that few other films have achieved. Rated: 3.5/5 May 24, 2022 Full Review Joe Lipsett Horror Queers Podcast Wake in Fright is searing condemnation on masculinity, urban vs rural divides and alcohol abuse that traps its audience in toxic cycles as much as its lead character. The real life animal abuse is unforgivable, though Rated: 4/5 May 18, 2022 Full Review Travis Johnson Blunt Magazine If anything, the film has become more potent, more poignant, even more capable of shocking and disturbing. Jun 29, 2021 Full Review Read all reviews

Audience Reviews

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Krent A One of the finest films ever made and a total 70's classic. Brilliant acting, characters, and a subtle, ambiguous script that avoids cliches at every turn. I can't think another film that captures masculine culture better. Rated 5 out of 5 stars 06/27/25 Full Review Harry M You'll never forget this movie. Be warned! Rated 5 out of 5 stars 05/11/25 Full Review Dave S While it never really lives up to its reputation and the associated hype, Ted Kotcheff’s Wake in Fright is certainly effective in creating an atmosphere. Set in the Australian Outback, a schoolteacher returning home for the Christmas holidays finds himself stranded in a remote town and soon finds himself sliding into alcohol-fueled debauchery, eventually leading to the controversial (and bloody) kangaroo hunt that gave the movie such notoriety. Beautifully shot, the cinematography effectively captures the essence of the Outback – you can almost taste the dust and feel the sweat. To its detriment, Wake in Fright grinds to a bit of a halt at the midway point as images of beer-drunk Aussies begin to get more than a little repetitive. Rated 3 out of 5 stars 05/04/25 Full Review Revolver 0 Just superb classic. Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars 02/27/25 Full Review Scott M Story about a man who goes on holiday in a nearby city of Yabba, where he meets a cast of characters who love to drink a lot. And I mean a lot. Somehow he ends up naked with Donald Pleasence, and decides to end his life. I would to. Rated 2 out of 5 stars 09/04/24 Full Review Ace R A 2 HOUR FOSTERS ADVERTISMENT FILM Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars 09/03/24 Full Review Read all reviews
Wake in Fright

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Cast & Crew

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Ted Kotcheff

Director

Gary Bond

John Grant

Donald Pleasence

Doc Tydon

Chips Rafferty

Jock Crawford

Sylvia Kay

Janette Hynes

Jack Thompson

Dick

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Wake in Fright

Wake in Fright (1971) View more photos

Movie Info

Synopsis After finishing up the school term in a remote outback town, teacher John Grant (Gary Bond) looks forward to spending his holiday with his girlfriend in Sydney. But John gets waylaid in a mining town where a gambling spree leaves him completely broke. He quickly falls in with the hard-drinking locals, who constantly ply him with alcohol and force him to participate in a gruesome kangaroo hunt. Disgusted, John tries to hitchhike out of town and, when that fails, begins to contemplate suicide.
Director
Ted Kotcheff
Producer
George Willoughby
Screenwriter
Evan Jones
Production Co
Group W Films, NLT Productions
Rating
R
Genre
Drama, Mystery & Thriller
Original Language
English
Release Date (Theaters)
Sep 22, 1971, Limited
Release Date (Streaming)
Mar 11, 2017
Box Office (Gross USA)
$15.5K
Runtime
1h 39m
Sound Mix
Surround
Aspect Ratio
Flat (1.85:1)