X: Night of Vengeance (2011)

X
Feature Film | Thriller | Australia | English | 1h30m
Dir: Jon Hewitt | Scr: Jon Hewitt & Belinda McClory | Ph: Mark Pugh | Prod: Lizzette Atkins | Mus: David Franzke & Byron Joel Scullin | Ed: Cindy Clarkson | PD: Michelle Sotheren | Cast: Viva Bianca, Hanna Mangan-Lawrence, Peter Docker, Stephen Phillips, Eamon Farren, Belinda McClory, Darren Moss, Freya Tingley

In Hewitt’s stylishly entertaining but oft unconvincing thriller, a 17-year-old novice and a 30-year-old veteran’s big money trick turns to nightmare, when their dodgy client has his head transformed violently into a bowling ball by a corrupt and decidedly deranged cop whilst they cower in the bathroom, leaving the pair with no option but to flee for their lives. The director’s assured visual touch and Mangan-Lawrence’s convincingly vulnerable performance impress throughout, but much of the plotting lacks plausibility and the characterisation credibility.