True History of the Kelly Gang (2019)
Director: Justin Kurzel
Screenwriter: Shaun Grant
Starring: George MacKay, Essie Davis, Nicholas Hoult, Russell Crowe, Thomasin McKenzie, Charlie Hunnam, Earl Cave, Sean Keenan, Orlando Schwerdt
Justin Kurzel’s films rarely offer a comfortable viewing experience. From the relentless atmosphere of Macbeth to the harrowing Snowtown and the divisive Assassin’s Creed, Kurzel favors intense, uncompromising storytelling. His adaptation of True History of the Kelly Gang continues that pattern: it is challenging, often brutal, but also infused with a raucous energy and moments of dark humor that prevent it from feeling one-note.
Set in late 19th-century Australia, the film traces the life of Ned Kelly from a destitute childhood to his rise as the leader of a notorious gang. The story opens with Kelly as a boy (Orlando Schwerdt), the son of an Irish convict, drifting through poverty until he crosses paths with outlaw Harry Power (Russell Crowe). After a stint in juvenile prison for assaulting a policeman, Ned reemerges as an adult (George MacKay) and eventually becomes the head of a group bent on resisting the colonial British authorities who oppress the Irish-Australian community.
“Nothing you’re about to see is True/True History of the Kelly Gang”.
The film’s title card makes the director’s intent explicit: this is a stylistic, fictionalized approach rather than a strict historical reconstruction. Kurzel plays fast with tone and anachronism — a New Romantic jacket, a punk-inflected soundtrack punctuating anachronistic violence — signaling that the film is as much a performance piece as a period drama. Expect explicit content: sex, graphic violence, and repeated strong language. There are moments of wicked levity, such as Russell Crowe’s memorable scene in which his boisterous outlaw croons a bawdy song about “the constable” over dinner, fully relishing the vulgarity.
Ned Kelly has long been recast in Australian culture as a folk hero, a complicated figure whose criminal acts and defiance have been reframed across generations. Kurzel’s film joins a long tradition of interpretations — straight biopics, comedies, even musicals — and deliberately treats historical events and characters as springboards for a bold, subjective vision. Some elements, like the gang’s improvised body armor and Kelly’s distinctive helmet, are rooted in historical accounts, but the film freely blends fact and invention to build its atmosphere.
Visually, True History of the Kelly Gang is spectacular. Kurzel and his cinematographer stage long, unhurried tracking shots across an austere, almost apocalyptic outback, while interiors favor heavy shadow and claustrophobic composition. Surreal imagery and dreamlike interludes punctuate the narrative, and the climactic action set-piece is particularly striking: a night assault where advancing officers appear phosphorescent against the blackness as they fire into the cabin sheltering the gang. These visual flourishes lift the film into an operatic register and create striking contrasts with its grittier, more grounded moments.
The cast anchors Kurzel’s stylistic excesses with committed performances. Russell Crowe, in a relatively brief but scene-stealing role, is both charming and rough-edged as Harry Power. Charlie Hunnam and Nicholas Hoult deliver vivid turns as agents of the colonial police, while George MacKay brings a taut, brooding intensity to Ned Kelly that keeps the film’s emotional core intact. Essie Davis is formidable as Kelly’s mother, lending the story a fierce, human center. Orlando Schwerdt contributes a natural charisma in the younger portrayal of Ned, maintaining continuity in the character’s arc.
Tonally, the film aligns with other modern Westerns that depict the frontier as unforgiving and morally ambiguous. Like films such as The Proposition — which was scripted by Nick Cave, whose son Earl Cave has a key role here — Kurzel’s picture presents outlaws who believe they are fighting for a cause beyond mere survival or profit. That conviction gives the characters a tragic, heroic dimension even as the film refuses to soften their brutality.
True History of the Kelly Gang is an audacious, often disquieting reimagining of a well-known historical figure. It will not convert viewers who dislike Kurzel’s uncompromising style, but fans of his work will find much to admire: a richly cinematic approach, strong performances, and a daring blend of realism and surrealism. The film’s deliberate blurring of fact and fiction invites viewers to experience the story as a mythic, emotional truth rather than a literal account, and that boldness is its central strength.
Score: 17/24