Synopsis

Sweet Country is set in 1929 in the outback of the Northern Territory. Sam is an Aboriginal middle-aged stockman who works for a kind preacher, Fred Smith.

Harry Marsh, returning from the Western Front, is appointed as the new station operator, and Sam is sent out with his wife and daughter to help renovate the outpost.

But Harry turns out to be an ill-tempered and bitter man, and his relationship with Sam quickly escalates. It culminates in a violent shootout, where Sam kills Harry in an attempt to save his own life.

As a result, Sam becomes a wanted criminal for the murder of a white man, and is forced to flee with his pregnant wife into the deadly outback. A hunting party led by Sergeant Fletcher is formed to track him down, but Sam eludes them as he is a clever man and an expert bushman.

Eventually for the health of his pregnant wife, Sam gives himself up. A trial is held in town and when the truth comes out in the courtroom about Sam's actions, he is acquitted. Justice has been served. Sam sets off on his journey home, but soon after leaving town, a shot rings out and Justice is crushed…

Sweet Country is the Northern Territory in the frontier era of the 1920s and the tale of brutality and injustice in an indifferent country.

Winner of 22 awards including six AACTA awards in 2018.

[Sweet Country] has now confirmed him [Warwick Thornton] as one of the country's finest filmmakers.

— Sydney Morning Herald

Sweet Country represents for us a chance to be involved in an Australian frontier drama told from an authentic Aboriginal perspective.

— Penny Smallacombe, Head of Indigenous, Screen Australia

Trailer