The Square (2008) Reviews

Temptation turns a man's life upside down in this noir-influenced thriller from Australia. Ray Yale (David Roberts) is a construction worker who is married to Martha (Lucy Bell) and is helping to build an upscale resort hotel just outside Sydney. Ray isn't entirely happy in his marriage, and his roving eye has become focused on Carla (Claire van der Boom), a hairdresser who lives next door. Carla is married to a low-level mobster, Greg (Anthony Hayes), but she craves excitement and is soon having a torrid affair with Ray. Carla knows that Greg has a large bundle of cash hidden in their home, and she hatches a scheme she shares with Ray -- they steal they money, set fire to the house, and run off together, with Greg imagining the cash was lost in the blaze. While Ray isn't interested in a life of crime, he can't say no to Carla, but when he develops cold feet at the last minute, his attempts to reach Billy (Joel Edgerton), who was hired to torch the house, are unsuccessful, and things take a turn for the worse when he learns that Greg's aged mother was in the house when it burned to the ground. Ray quickly realizes he's been implicated in a murder, and Billy doesn't hesitate to use this knowledge to his advantage. The Square was the first directorial project for Nash Edgerton, who previously was one of the leading stuntmen in the Aussie film industry. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi