The Moogai, from Australia

It is sort of like a supernatural dingo, who is out to steal Sarah’s baby, Jacob. Unfortunately, few people believe in that folky monster, much like Meryl Streep’s cradle-snatching dingoes in A Cry in the Dark. Sadly, that even includes Sarah herself (at least for most of the film). Of course, her long-absent birth-mother, Ruth knows only too well the creature exists, because she only barely survived an encounter with it during her childhood. She is the best hope to save Jacob, but Sarah’s skepticism (and the “dominant” white culture she is responding to) make Ruth’s mission even more difficult in director-screenwriter Jon Bell’s The Moogai, which opens in theaters this Friday.

Sarah is actually crushing it brokering M&A deals for her firm. Arguably, she is sort of having it all, balancing her career in finance with motherhood. That luck ran out when she went into labor with Jacob. Technically, the difficult delivery killed her for several seconds, but somehow the insensitive Anglo-Aussie doctor revived her.

Of course, he prescribes plenty of rest, but Sarah starts to fear sleep, because of the freaky nightmares, featuring an eerie looking little girl and a nasty monster with long taloned fingers. Ruth would know that is the Moogai, because it left the scars that still mark her face. However, Sarah remains rejects all the old superstition. Believing her mother abandoned her, she instinctively distanced herself from aboriginal culture. Her blokey husband Fergus is more receptive to tradition, but he still assumes she suffers from an acute form of post-partum psychosis.

To suggest Bell’s use of the Moogai as a metaphor for racist Australian policies towards the Aboriginal population is heavy-handed would be an understatement. Alas, The Moogai is definitely the sort of film where the message comes first and everything else is secondary.

That is a shame, because the Moogai is creepy monster that taps into universal fears of childhood boogeymen, regardless of viewers’ cultural backgrounds. Indeed, Bell displays sound instincts when it comes to deciding how much of the monster to show throughout the film.

Shari Sebbens has impressive freakouts and breakdowns, but the denial (and self -denial) Bell forces on her quickly stretches credibility. On the other hand, Meyne Wyatt is appealing down to earth as Fergus. Tessa Rose is also fiercely committed as Rose, but Bella Heathcote simply delivers a ridiculous collection of shallow white Millennial cliches as Sarah’s fair-weather work friend.

There is a fair amount of creepiness in The Moogai. Sadly, it is frequently interrupted by long unsubtle political statements. The monster should drive the film, allowing the message to emerge organically. Instead, it is sort of the other way round. That’s too bad, because a lot of good work went into the film. Nevertheless, it is not enough to recommend The Moogai when it releases this Friday (5/9) in theaters.