Sage Godrei

A little girl encounters Indigenous mythological nightmares while lost in the Australian bush.

The first Australian film to feature Auslan (Australian Sign Language). "A Silent Agreement" tells the story of Reuben, a sensitive writer, who grapples with a speech impediment. His boyfriend, Derek, a profoundly deaf Human Rights activist, provides strategies to restore his confidence and communication skills. When Reuben approaches an over-the-hill film producer with his autobiographical screenplay, the producer betrays him and Reuben is forced to overcome the long-term effects of bullying in order to succeed.

“I don’t believe in love because I’ve never seen it,” responds a young woman to an unseen interviewer in the first few minutes of the movie. This bleak portrait of loneliness and social exclusion is set on the edge of a desolate swamp where an aging clown and his daughter are struggling to survive. The location could be the end of the world, a place where hope has vanished along with a belief in the afterlife and the existence of God. The two unfortunates live together without the likelihood of change, as fear, aggression, and anger take hold of them – but they also experience sudden moments of tenderness.

Strewn on the blood, alcohol and urine soaked tiles of a dingy public bathroom, a young man reflects on the sex worker who stole his heart in a series of surreal and nightmarish flashbacks. ‘You’re Not Thinking Straight’ is a fiercely unique coming-of-age tale about what it means to be young, lonely and clamouring for love in a broken world.