Dario Russo‘s hell-bent-for-leather feature debut, The Fox, has to be one of the oddest parables I’ve ever seen brought to life. After a documentary-style introduction narrated by Olivia Colman (Paddington in Peru), who also voices the titular animal, we meet Nick (Jai Courtney), a fox catcher who helps his father look after their rural property in the Australian outback. But that’s not quite where the film begins. Instead, the narrator suggests that any animal living out there might love to be human for a day, if not longer. After seeing how these people behave, I wonder if they’d reconsider!
Nick’s relationship with Kori (Emily Browning) is going nowhere, even after he proposes marriage. He thinks everything is fine, but she’s deeply unhappy and secretly sleeping with Derek (Damon Herriman), the husband of her best friend Diana (Claudia Doumit). It’s a messy arrangement, and Nick is the last person to recognize just how doomed his romantic future might be.
Of course, when Nick catches the fox that’s been raiding the family’s chickens and she offers to help with his relationship problems, I had to laugh! That’s because she’s been watching his life unfold for some time and knows more about his circumstances than he does. Whether the tale rests entirely on her point of view or that of a neutral third-person observer is harder to pin down. Either way, she’s clearly enjoying herself.
Her help isn’t without some surreal intent. The fox is difficult to figure out, and while this film isn’t intended to make complete sense, I’m hoping for a quick digital release and a director’s commentary to reveal a few things I didn’t catch the first time. What I understood immediately is that Nick is a man facing uncertainty about his life. He doesn’t know what happiness is, and that’s the problem. The cunning fox offers a solution in the form of a pit that can transform anyone who falls into it. But is that really what he wants?
Since Nick doesn’t understand what Kori wants, he’s ready to push her into this pit, with Diana helping him carry out the plan. Thankfully, there’s no pendulum waiting at the bottom! By the time Kori emerges, she’s a changed person, seemingly suited to his every need. And therein lies the problem. She’s too primal, too transformed, and what this tale reveals is absolutely sinister.
I’m willing to call the bargain Faustian, and I wouldn’t be surprised if Nick ends up questioning his own sanity. The more agreeable Kori becomes, the more apparent it is that getting exactly what he wants might be the worst thing that could happen to him. When this film is tailored to explore the pitfalls (pun intended) of relationships, watching Nick attempt to crawl out of the rabbit hole he’s dug for himself is amusing. And when the story suggests that this supernatural shortcut isn’t quite as unusual in the community as he thinks, the implications become even more disturbing.
With such a strong cast delivering the story, what happens next is almost beyond bizarre. Russo has a vivid imagination, and I kept wondering whether there’s an association with changeling lore. I suspect there is, even if that wasn’t necessarily the filmmaker’s intent. Knowing something about faerie lore, I couldn’t help but think about the idea of someone familiar being replaced by something that only looks like the person we knew.
My thoughts also wandered to Jukurrpa, often translated as the Dreaming. This is where the past, present and future exist together. Passage isn’t as easy as one thinks. It’s impossible to fully summarize the concept, but it offers another way to consider the film’s occult elements. I’m not suggesting Russo drew directly from this tradition, but the association is one I couldn’t ignore.
Although Russo has spoken about drawing from Japanese stories featuring the shape-shifting kitsune, I still feel he had some distinctly Aussie ideas in mind. The rural setting, the small-town relationships and the casual acceptance of talking animals give the comedy its own peculiar character. Even Sam Neill‘s opinionated Magpie seems perfectly at home in this strange world. The fusion works, and as far as I’m concerned, these occult elements help fashion the shape of things to come. I can’t wait to see what this talented filmmaker from Down Under will dream up next!
4 Stars out of 5
Upcoming Screenings:
- Oct 25, 2026: Celluloid Screams showroomcinema.org.uk
- Nov 9, 2026: Travelling Film Festival, www.sff.org.au
- Nov 18–29, 2026: With Q&A. www.madman.com.au
- Nov 26, 2026: Australian theatrical release.
- Dec 4, 2026: US theatrical release through Aura Entertainment.
The Fox (2026) Movie Trailer
