- Date of Release: 08 June 2025
- Genre: Comedy, Thriller
- Language: English
- Watch On: Tribeca Film Festival
Birthright
Introduction
The modern day dynamics of a family structure is always a victim of a generational gap. The views and point of views of individuals of a family are usually skewed, more to do with the complexities of life in 2025 that poses a different set of challenges as opposed to three decades back. And hence, the test of the family is usually that of adaptability and understanding the situation of all parties, for the dynamic to eventually function as expected. In that regard, the Australian film Birthright is an anti-thesis in a way, taking the concept of a family dynamic and literally giving it a war-like feeling. Even when you are introduced to two of its four protagonists early on – Cory (Travis Jeffery) and Jasmine (Maria Angelico), they seem to be an average-joe couple pregnant with a baby, but suddenly finding themselves at crossroads in life. What is seemingly like a typical social dynamics that a couple would generally face, is oddly accompanied by hard beats that resemble a war-cry of sorts. This interesting presentation of a soon-to-be family dynamic, is exactly how twisted the drama wishes to be, with the makers preparing the viewers for a tag team bout straight out of WrestleMania!
Story & Screenplay
There have been so many instances of parents citing their own examples to children, in a bid that they take a leaf from their experiences. So if you are in your 30s, you do need to own a place of your own, start a family, be financially stable and responsible with your actions, just the kind of routine that they had once followed in their lives. This sentiment is often tagged by an underlying layer of tension that graces the occasion, something that Covy encounters when he meets his parents Richard (Michael Hurst) and Lyn (Linda Cropper). The conflict is simple – Covy and Jasmine are virtually kicked out of their apartment, while having no place to go for three-weeks until their owners grant them a new place to rent. For Covy who promises his parents to stay ‘just for 2 nights’ (much to their dismay already), silently hopes to stick around for three whole weeks. But things get even more complicated when Covy’s home owner decides to sell his home as opposed to renting it out for them, thus triggering a bout of mayhem!
One of the interesting aspects of the drama remains its characterization. Depending on your age demographic and principles of morality, it is natural that you will pick a side based on how you look at the characters. But there is a silent streak of ego and narcissm that laces every single character, something that will potentially skew your loyalties towards a particular character. For instance, you feel for Covy even as he is turned down for 10,000$ by his father Richard, an amount that could have lent a sort of stability. As per Richard and his age-old beliefs, he had spent a similar fortune with Covy, much like how his father had done to him, and that it was Covy’s irresponsibility on having spent the whole amount. The catch here lies on whether the amount is actually enough given the changes in the rate of inflation as opposed to say three decades back! On the other, the core responsibility of the finances also lay on Covy who seemed overtly dependent on his parents’ fortunes, despite having a heavily-pregnant wife, and going to be a father shortly.
Much like films Ayyapannum Koshiyum (2020), Driving Licence (2019) or Parking (2023), the levels of escalation are much more cerebral to begin with, while tactfully simmering the layers of tension along the way. The friction between Covy and Richard is more physical, with tempers flairing as Covy wishes to opt for a swimming pool much to Richard being infuriated and almost striking him with a hoe. In a sharp contrast, the ladies of the house are passively aggressive towards each other, keeping their tensions in cotton balls despite sharing similar feelings like their male counterparts. The tensions further escalate even as Covy decides to handpick and don a leather jacket that belonged to his father, a gesture that further triggers Richard. Here, the jacket is a symbol of a trophy that is earned and not borrowed, almost acting as a trigger for Richard who starts to believe that Covy has started to possess his property which would slowly translate into his house.
The proceedings unfold like a boxing match that is laced with a sharp sense of black humour, that skews the lines of morality. Blows are dropped from both sides, tensions are flaired up at an even bigger intensity, and more often than not, the father-son duo are pitted against each other. Yet a thing to note is that, one of the bigger revelations unravels when Lyn and Jasmine are shown to be interacting with each other, that brings out a truth on how Richard and Lyn weren’t invited for their wedding (thereby tilting the events in their favour). The final act though is laced with chaos while being utterly dark with its treatment, almost designed to flip the narrative as far as Richard and Covy are concerned. The circle of life and death coupled with an interchangeable role of father and son, is what forms an integral part of the narrative, leading up to a passively shocking end with greed and capitalism laughing in the corner, which remain two main culprits of the conflict. The screenplay is very well written and accounts for a twisted take on the issue of family dynamics.
Dialogues, Music & Direction
The dialogues are conversational but deliberately laced with subtle bouts of dark humour that add flavour and texture to the narrative. The BGM is pulsating, almost replicating the war-beats which essentially remained the underlying theme of the drama. The cinematography comprises of frames that have a sense of intimacy with the shots, particularly with respect to the character dynamics that are shared across the board. Yet, the edgy nature of the frames replicating the flawed traits of the characters, is enough for your loyalties to sway from one character to another. The editing is razor sharp, maintaining the tautness of the drama with respect to its runtime, and accounting for some interesting transition shots. Director Zoe Pepper in her feature film debut manages to hit the sweet spot as far as the conflict of the film is concerned. Her focus remains on her characters and their histrionics while keeping all other external factors in the corner. Hence, she revels in characterization while creating a war-like ambience laced with dark humour that truly hits home with respect to the situations that the characters find themselves in. The direction was supremely impressive!
Performances
The performances are incredibly good by the members of the cast. Tai Hara as Marco and Mercy Cornwall as Sarah have their moments to shine, and they both manage to impress. Linda Cropper as Lyn is a character that internalises her anger while only briefly letting down her defences. And she does an incredible job here in exploiting this trait with respect to her character. Maria Angelico as Jasmine is almost a character like Portia from Shakespeare’s Macneth (this drama could also be looked at from this angle), wherein her subtle actions are overshadowed by her state of pregnancy, that often acts as a shield for her oppprtunistic ways. This remained a complex character and played to such perfection. Michael Hurst as Richard and Travis Jeffrey as Cory are primarily similar characters with conflicting personalities at different stages of their age demographic. Both are utterly aggressive and share a strained bond (much like most fathers and sons from across the globe). Hence, it hardly comes as a surprise that they let their inflated egos overpower the situation, wherein you often see them at loggerheads with each other. Their situation is similar to the last shot of the pool – that is half full with water (Covy) and half covered with sand (Richard). So the realisation occurs (with one character), only when it is too late (and once anger subsides following a tragedy). Both these actors feed off each other and manage to perform brilliantly in the process.
Conclusion
As a part of our Tribeca Film Festival coverage, Birthright is a starkly twisted black comedy on the dynamics of a modern day family, that accounts for a brilliant watch.
