Review of the film ‘Skeleton girls. A kidnapped society’ (2025)

  

This film is advertised as a ‘Punk Thriller’. But if you jump to the data sheet at the end, you will find the better choice I come up with to describe its genre: Satire.

This film is the work of an artisan: it is produced, written, directed and edited by Richard Eames. His style is all over the writing, direction and edition – and his ideology too. The film uses several schematic shots to describe situations. The opening of the film describes a world in trouble, ridden with several problems, including war and global warming. For a moment, it seems that the story is happening in a distopia – but then, the film gets started and the spectators realize that this is not a dystopic future but just our present, only described in a satiric way. Big corporations have all of the power. Hate groups attack immigrants. Big media journalists are aligned with the money. Aspiring journalists will lie all the way. The story has a clear political intention: anti-immigrant extremists are portrayed not only as dumb, but also as cowards at the time for fighting, and big media is shown to be secretly collaborating with them.

The protagonist, Anna, lives with a ridiculously abusive boyfriend that, predictably, is not to end well. Anna bumps into sensationalist journalist Claire, becomes a fugitive, and joins a group of squatters (not even building-squatters, just lot-squatters) that make their income in the street as musicians, beggars and drug dealers. Inevitably, they will clash with the big corporation owning the lot and an anti-immigrants group, and will be debased by a Big media journalist. As for the titular Skeleton Girls, they are just secondary characters that only appear in the second half of the film.

After its cold start, the film runs as a comedy and the dialogues are fun. Eames does a good direction work, with the right pace, and also a highlighted edition work. As for the soundtrack, made of alternative rock, it does fit the story.

Time for the acting. Brilliant job from Alex Arco and Dean McAskil. Excellent Ashleigh Zinko. Good Cara McCarthy, Splodge and the anti-immigration group in general. Weak performance from Alla Malakhitova.

All in all, an excellent comedy about squatters fighting oppression. 4 out of 5.

Title:	Skeleton girls
Genre:	Satire
Year:	2025
Nationality:	Australia
Colour:	Colour
Director:	Richard Eames
Writer:	Richard Eames
Cast:	Alla Malakhitova, Alex Arco, Ashleigh Zinko, Cara McCarthy, Lauren Elise Thomas, Takia Morrison, Cezera Critti-Schnaars, Dean McAskil, Olivia Nardini, Nicholas Di Nardo, Fraser Murray, Robbie Anderson, Sharni Andersson, Megan Aspinall, Noah D'Annunzio, Brandon De Sousa, Mike Djukic, Sam Dudley, Ashley Garner, Aodhan Guy, Courtney Henri, Chanel Marriott, Aiden McFaull, Rose McKenna, Jack O'Keeffe, Splodge, Daniel Williamson, Dan Wilson
Producer:	Richard Eames, Helene Tay
Production designer:	Helena Tay
Cinematographer:	Meredith Lindsay
Film editor:	Richard Eames
Casting:	Peter Gunn
Costume Designer:	Helena Tay
Music:	Steven Aaron Hughes
Running time:	107 minutes
Language:	English