It's a peculiar thing, watching a movie for the first time sitting just a few metres away from its star. Even more peculiar is when said star – 26-year-old Sisi Stringer, Hollywood by way of Brisbane – is also watching the movie, this month's Australian thriller Force of Nature, for the first time. “I'm really nervous,” she yelps, bouncing around in her seat. Stringer's expectations are high. “Bob told me it's even better than the first one.” “Bob” being Robert Connolly, the film's director; “the first one” meaning The Dry, the Eric Bana-led adaptation of Jane Harper's bestselling noir about a tortured detective and a terrible crime, which was released in 2021 and quickly became one of the most successful Australian films of all time.
The lights go: Bana and Torv, Deborra-Lee Furness, Richard Roxburgh, Jacqueline McKenzie. Stringer stars as Beth, an employee at a Melbourne finance firm with a chequered past (when is it ever anything but?). She's terrific. The rising star might be best known for her stunt work in blockbusters such as , but in she's deathly still, watchful and endlessly perceptive. Nothing gets past her, as Bana's Falk soon discovers. “There are quite a few little two-handers between them,” notes Connolly. “I know Eric just loved working with her, the two of them have a real sparkle together.” Anyway, no spoilers. Even if you've read Harper's beloved novel, you'll be in for a twistaminute ride worthy of the first film. The lights come back up and Stringer throws her hands in the air in triumph.
