‘Audrey’ Is Guaranteed to Make You Squirm

Every once in a while a comedy creates its own wacky universe.

Think “The Greasy Strangler” or “Napoleon Dynamite.”

The normal rules don’t apply in these films. Everyone in the cast is sticking to a new, absurdist playbook. “Audrey” is one of those movies.

The Aussie comedy is bold and black, a charcoal-hued tale of a stage mother willing to do anything to steer the spotlight back to her.

Anything.

What begins as a gloriously original romp quickly runs out of steam, falling back on wacky sex scenes and immoral twists to keep us engaged.

Nothing doing.

Ronnie (Jackie van Beek) longs to reclaim her brief acting career, and she’s eager to push her teen daughter into the biz at the same time. That’s Audrey (Josephine Blazier), who isn’t as excited about a theatrical life as much as Mama.

Audrey wants to run off to Nepal with her beau, but before that can happen she falls off the roof of her home and ends up in a coma.

Don’t ask.

That won’t do, Ronnie mopes. My daughter has rehearsals coming up! So she steps in and pretends to be Audrey at her local school.

Meanwhile, Audrey’s father Cormack (Jeremy Lindsay Taylor) does handyman work for a church dabbling in spiritual pornography.

Don’t Ask, The Sequel.

Cormack falls for one of the church’s male leaders, a rabbit hole that makes little sense at first and gets more confusing as the story trudges along.

“Audrey” grows darker and darker, and it’s clear the filmmakers aren’t sure what they want from their broad farce. Is this the story of a middle-aged mom pretending to be her teen daughter (and all the wacky high jinks that ensue)?

Yes and no.

Is this a dark tale of a stage mom on steroids? Sure, but not really.

Is it a portrait of marital malaise? Yes, but only to showcase unnecessary sex scenes that aren’t funny or engaging.

We’re left with that coal-black tone, too few laughs and a narrative that keeps pushing us away.

Defeated by Dashed Career Dreams, Jackie Van Beek Takes on Daughter’s Identity in ‘Audrey’ – SXSW Trailer Drop https://t.co/4FrNcAW2IS

— Variety (@Variety) March 7, 2024

Some laughs emerge but not enough to justify the wacky world building. The family’s other daughter, who has cerebral palsy, gets to experience a flood of emotions that some physically challenged actors aren’t allowed to explore.

That’s a plus, and actress Hannah Diviney quietly steals a few scenes.

The film’s dirty little secret is that life gets substantially better with Audrey out of the picture. It’s another meaty conceit, but screenwriter Lou Sanz gets distracted by other subplots.

Smaller scenes score bigger, like Ronnie’s acting classes under the tutelage of a teacher who seems as crazed in her own way as her ‘star’ pupil.

Van Beek is dialed in as the star-hungry Ronnie, and her arc could have gone in any number of hysterical ways. Instead, she finds herself fighting for her marriage in shockingly conventional fashion.

A third-act play stops the film’s crazed momentum cold, or whatever is left of it. Oh, what might have been with the maddening “Audrey.”

HiT or Miss: “Audrey” is so promising that the film’s eventual implosion is all the more painful.

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