I looked forward to seeing Force of Nature because I have read all three of the novels in Jane Harper’s Aaron Falk trilogy and because I have seen The Dry, the film adaptation of the first novel in the series. I enjoyed Force of Nature (based on the second novel in the series), and I guess I could say that I did so in spite of the expectations set up by its subtitle: The Dry 2. Force of Nature is hardly a direct sequel to The Dry, and the novel Force of Nature doesn’t have any subtitle at all. I am guessing that it was added as a marketing gimmick: The original film was a huge success, especially in Australia, home country of Harper and her creation Aaron Falk, but the second film in the series is very much worth seeing based on its own merits.
The three novels of the Aaron Falk trilogy, by Jane Harper, have been published in the United States after their initial publication in Australia:
◊ The Dry (2017, first U.S. edition; copyright 2016)
◊ Force of Nature (2018, first U.S. edition; copyright 2017)
◊ Exiles (2023, first U.S. edition; copyright 2022)
Force of Nature begins with a few opening credits, first on a black background, but then it switches to foreboding shots of nature. By the time that the camera pans down to ground level and a single large plant, the music on the soundtrack has let viewers know that the story ahead will be mysterious and dark and that nature will be a commanding presence. The soundtrack makes a huge difference by emphasizing the difficult terrain, the bad weather, the danger ahead, all to create a somber mood. The sounds of nature—birds calling and insects chirping night and day—add to the mysteriousness. The film uses original music (composed, arranged, and produced by Peter Raeburn) and an orchestra to perform the music score.
After the title card, the film cuts to a group of four women emerging suddenly from the thick vegetation and flagging down a passing car. One of the women was bitten by a venomous spider. A fifth, Alice Russell, is missing. One of the women asks the strangers in the car about her and then screams her name when she gets no answer. All five women had started a corporate retreat a few days earlier, and all five work for Bailey Tennants Finances. Jill and Daniel Bailey, owners of the company, are under investigation by the federal Australian government for money laundering and other types of corporate corruption.
(This article about Force of Nature contains spoilers.)
Aaron Falk and his partner Carmen are called to join the investigation because Alice Russell was an informant working for them in the corporate corruption investigation. She had stolen some money from her employer, and when the federal agents discovered her theft, they used that information as leverage to convince her to gather evidence. Before they arrive on scene, Aaron tells Carmen that he thinks he pushed Alice too hard. He is afraid that the pressure he applied caused her to take chances that might have led to trouble, even danger, on the corporate retreat. She is lost in a fictional remote area of Australia called the Giralang Ranges, an area that Aaron Falk knows well. He respects its power. He knows from personal experience how unforgiving the Australian bush can be. He lost his mother on a camping trip when he was a young boy in the very same area where the five women were lost.
The investigation into Alice’s disappearance is the main plot thread in the film. It is intertwined with flashbacks to Aaron’s childhood and the family trip to the same area, the Giralang Ranges. Additional flashbacks reveal Alice Russell’s first involvement with the federal case and the start of her work as an undercover informant. Another plot thread without any flashbacks involves Martin Kovacs, a serial killer who lived off the land in the Giralang Ranges and preyed on women at about the same time that Aaron’s mother died. Kovacs used his pet dog to lure the women and then abducted and killed them. Many of the bodies of his victims have never been found.
As I mentioned, Aaron Falk expressed some doubts to his partner Carmen about the handling of the case. He is afraid that the pressure he applied caused Alice to take chances. He is the one to find her dead, which only increases his feelings of ambiguity about the work that he and his partner are doing and the methods used to get the evidence they need, not only in the case against Bailey Tennants but in their other cases. This creates some tension between Aaron and his partner. Carmen tends to see the world more in black and white. She reasons that Alice stole money from Bailey Tennants Finances, and it is her fault for choosing to steal money in the first place. Aaron, on the other hand, worries that they hold some responsibility for how Alice reacted and for her death on the company retreat, even after he learns of the circumstances surrounding her death.
There is also a bit of tension between Aaron Falk and Sergeant Vince King of the local police force. King is in charge of the search for Alice Russell, and he is not quite as convinced as Aaron Falk that she is still alive on the Giralang Ranges. In addition, he was working on the police force when the serial killer Martin Kovacs was terrorizing the area. When King hears from the survivors that they spent a night in a cabin that could have belonged to Kovacs, he also becomes interested in finding it and possibly some clues about the missing and murdered women because he would like to help their families find closure. Aaron accuses Sergeant King of being more interested in Kovacs and his murder victims from years ago than he is in finding Alice Russell, who could still be alive.
All these plot threads work well in the narrative and give the story more depth. Each overlaps the others so that the details are important for all. The main characters, including the five women on the corporate retreat, are multidimensional, and the multilayered plot helps the story rather than hinders it, even if it makes the overall narrative more complicated. The tension coming from so many sources weighs particularly heavily on Aaron Falk, and it also weighs on viewers as they try to figure out who knows what.
The flashbacks to Aaron Falk’s childhood and the loss of his mother emphasize how much he knows about the Giralang Ranges and how dangerous and confusing they can be. He knows well how quickly things can turn bad in the Australian bush. It gives him more sympathy for the women and for Alice Russell’s plight. Alice may have stolen money from her employer, but that doesn’t mean she deserved to lose her way in the Giralang Ranges and not come out alive.
I always find that seeing a noir film a second time helps with the details, and this is true of Force of Nature. The switch from the present investigation to two sets of flashbacks can be a little bit complicated, and repeat viewings can help keep details sorted. I have seen the film several times, and each time I see more depth and nuance, which is a huge plus in my view. For me, the repeat viewings also allowed me to separate the story more and more from the first film in the series, The Dry, which I found to be another great plus because both are such good films.
Click here for my article about The Dry (2020).
All the novels and thus the two films are related, but their plots don’t build on one another. The mysteries and their solutions are distinct and separate. Both The Dry and Force of Nature use nature as a central theme, but The Dry is hot, sunny, and, of course, dry. Force of Nature is cold, cloudy, and damp. Whatever extreme form it takes, nature is a force to reckon with. Aaron Falk is the main character and his life and his past do take center stage; however, it’s unfair to make any other comparisons between the two films. It is unfortunate that the title card for Force of Nature includes a subtitle, perhaps setting up unrealistic expectations for viewers. The films should really be approached as two separate works.
Eric Bana is great in the role of Aaron Falk. He is completely believable as a dedicated federal agent and a person trying to keep his perspective in a very complicated situation. His past trauma related to the loss of his mother gives him some empathy toward the women involved in his and Carmen’s investigation. He can understand how difficult it must have been for them when they were lost and confused in the wilderness. I enjoyed the film immensely, so much so that I hope the third novel in the series, Exiles, is adapted for the screen, too.
January 21, 2024 (Melbourne, Australia); February 8, 2024 (Australia) • Directed by Robert Connolly • Screenplay by Robert Connolly • Based on the novel Force of Nature by Jane Harper • Music by Peter Raeburn • Edited by Alexandre De Franceschi, Maria Papoutsis • Cinematography by Andrew Commis
Eric Bana as Aaron Falk • Archie Thomson as young Aaron Falk • Anna Torv as Alice Russell • Deborra-Lee Furness as Jill Bailey • Robin McLeavy as Lauren • Sisi Stringer as Bethany (aka Beth) • Lucy Ansell as Brianna (aka Bree) • Jacqueline McKenzie as Carmen Cooper • Tony Briggs as Ian Chase • Jeremy Lindsay Taylor as Erik Falk • Richard Roxburgh as Daniel Bailey • Kenneth Radley as Sergeant Vince King • Ash Ricardo as Jennifer (aka Jenny) Falk • Ingrid Torelli as Margot Russell • Matilda May Pawsey as Rebecca
Distributed by Roadshow Films, IFC Films • Produced by Screen Australia, Fim Victoria, Made Up Stories, Arenamedia, Pick Up Truck Pictures
Force of Nature, by Jane Harper • New York: Flatiron Books, 2018 (first U.S. edition; copyright 2017)