CULT DVD Review

Wasted on the Young

Overall: 80%

Feature: 80%

Extras: 80%

Wasted on the Young (2010)

Set in an elite Australian private School where to be with the popular ‘in crowd’ is everything and social hierarchies are maintained in visible and hidden ways, ‘Wasted on the Young’ centres on two half brothers, Zack, the leader of the popular set and Darren, one of the social outcasts.

Xandrie, a female schoolmate of Darren’s becomes attracted to him and on being invited to one of his half-brother Zack’s infamous house-parties tries to find Darren with no success. She is lured into a secluded corner of the house by Zack and his pals, is drugged, assaulted and left for dead in a remote area. Through a text message he find on his phone, Darren realises that Xandrie has been in the house and has gone missing. Not knowing what has happened, he fears the worst and through CCTV footage tries to piece together the evening’s events. He realises the consequences of the attack and what he needs to do to get his revenge on his half brother.

The outstanding thing about the film is the teenage world that it portrays – a world of text messages, fast moving IT skills, casual relationships, looking for the ‘next buzz’ and instant gratification. While it contrasts the selfishness of one brother against the genuine-ness of another, one of the striking things is that there are hardly any older adult roles. This portrays the sometimes self-centred world in which some teenagers find themselves.

Oliver Ackland and Alex Russell are powerful in the roles of the two brothers, but Adelaide Clemens as the put upon Xandrie is wonderful, displaying the affections of the school age teenager alongside the vulnerabilities and steeliness growing inside her as a maturing adult. The film itself has a number of styles to it, with some flashbacks and fantasy sequences disturbing the narrative a little – although adding a humorous vent on one occasion to Xandrie’s contact with Zack’s female friends on her return to school. The violence in the film is strong and merits the film its 15 cert.

A gripping hour and a half’s viewing and an original take on high school angst.

EXTRASWhile the extras confine themselves to a trailer for the movie and a scene selection, these are rewarding in themselves – the scene selection, even after watching the film through, allow you to re-visit some of the clues given throughout the early narrative to what might happen later.

Donald MacDonald

FEATURE: 80%

EXTRAS: 80%

OVERALL: 80%