Rating: R | Runtime: 120 minutes
Release Date: February 8th, 2024 (Australia) / April 19th, 2024 (USA)
Studio: Roadshow Films / IFC Films
Director(s): Robert Connolly
Writer(s): Robert Connolly / Jane Harper (novel)

I know what happens when things turn bad.

I’m glad to see that Jane Harper has stopped her Aaron Falk series at three novels because, if the first two cinematic adaptations are any indication, more would have me wondering just how he’s been able to survive so much tragedy. Similar to The Dry, director Robert Connolly’s (who adapts the script alone this time) follow-up Force of Nature also has a flashback parallel to ensure the current case Falk (Eric Bana) is investigating has a connection to his past. Last time it was two old friends dying decades apart. This time it’s a woman gone missing in the same mountains that also took his mother. I wonder what mirror is used in Exiles.

The woman who’s gone missing is Alice (Anna Torv). Maybe it’s a random event considering she and a group of co-workers were traveling an unguided and arduous nature path as part of a work retreat. Or, perhaps, the fact that Falk and his partner (Jacqueline McKenzie’s Carmen) were using her as an informant to gather intel on her bosses (Deborra-Lee Furness’ Jill and Richard Roxburgh’s Daniel Bailey)—the organizers of this adventure—means something more nefarious went on. That’s up to them to find out. And to rescue Alice. And to unearth the long-hidden shack that belonged to a serial killer who was active around the time Aaron and his parents chose those same woods to camp.

It’s a lot going on. Especially since all the other witnesses have their own secrets. Why does Alice keep asking that she leave the group with Bree (Lucy Ansell) once they get lost? How much is Beth’s (Sisi Stringer) “criminal” past a lesson learned and how much a pattern of behavior? What familial issues have created a rift between Alice and her sister Lauren (Robin McLeavy)? How much of Jill’s sunny disposition is genuine and how much a carefully constructed façade to lead the police astray? Everyone is lying. Everyone’s lies are for personal reasons that may or may not involve Alice’s disappearance. And the longer Aaron is left empty-handed with an impending storm, the more anxious and impatient he grows.

As an isolated story, Force of Nature is effective. It’s engaging, twisty, and nicely self-contained as far as delving into Aaron’s state of mind and history with this place—the guilt of the past mixing with the guilt of the present. It’s also quite one-dimensional narratively thanks in large part to very thinly drawn characters where it comes to the in-fighting between these women. Alice is the “bitch.” Lauren is the “pushover.” Beth the “criminal” and Bree “little Miss Perfect.” They play these roles in their retelling of what happened as well as their current predicament to manipulate our expectations without much insight into the actions themselves. The same goes for Carmen as the “heartless” cop who could care less about Alice’s wellbeing as long as she can put Jill and Daniel away.

It’s therefore hard to not inherently compare the movie to The Dry and realize just how flimsy things are in the juxtaposition. Perhaps it was unfair of me to rewatch it directly beforehand, but Harper and Connolly’s first go is so much stronger, weightier, and resonant. That’s what happens when you craft a scenario that brings your complex and conflicted hero back home to face his demons on two fronts. The drama is built in. To therefore try to force it here (and to toy with our assumptions in so doing with the inclusion of a serial killer who may or may not factor in at all) does the result zero favors.

Maybe something was lost in the translation from page to screen and all nuance was left on the cutting room floor or maybe lightning simply didn’t strike twice. Either way, it’s still good. Had it been a standalone story with no connection to Aaron Falk, it might even be better than good. But I’m not going to dismiss it outright via the comparison. That wouldn’t be fair. Just don’t get your hopes up too high if you’re as big a fan of The Dry as I am. Force of Nature might be a solid continuation of Falk’s mythology, but it’s also proof that the same franchise IP potential used to help sales can hinder a story’s ability to succeed on its own.

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Eric Bana and Jacqueline McKenzie in Robert Connolly’s FORCE OF NATURE: THE DRY 2. Courtesy of Narelle Portanier. An IFC Films Release.