Veteran director Bruce Beresford’s new film, The Travellers, is a painfully earnest drama about a hotshot stage designer who returns from Europe to visit his family in Western Australia. Many scenes feel tender and truthful, but tonally the film wobbles around for a long time – not quite cloying or cheesy but often on the brink – before finally toppling into a cringe-inducing “gee shucks” spirit.
Its cultural commentaries – revolving around Australian and European attitudes – feel old-fashioned and simplistic, and while it’s told from the heart, sentiment smothers the story.
