‘Limbo’ (2024) Movie Review – A Striking Modern Noir

Over the past decade, true crime stories and reopening cold cases have taken the world by storm. With just one more set of fresh eyes or digging into the evidence anew, surely something will turn up. It’s impossible to understate just how saturated culture is with these stories. But what happens when the case has absolutely no leads or is centered on a marginalized people group? Those don’t get as much attention. Starring Simon Baker as the benumbed big-city detective, Ivan Sen’s arresting Limbo tracks Travis Hurley as he descends into the Australian Outback to dig up clues on the 20-year-old case of the missing Charlotte Hayes, an Aboriginal woman who seems to have vanished without a trace. While not based on an explicitly true story, the film does represent how the people of Australia’s First Nations have been treated by the justice system over the years, something we are all too familiar with here in the States.

Shot in black and white, Limbo‘s cinematography strips away the beauty of the Australian Outback and shows it as more desolate and isolating than enticingly removed from the rest of the world. Others have forgotten about those residing in Limbo, and it shows in the way they act toward the outsider detective as he comes sauntering into town looking for answers. Filming the fictional settlement of Limbo took place in Coober Pedy, an old Australian mining town chock-full of abandoned mines and equipment that drive home the abandonment that is particularly felt by the remaining family Charlotte has left behind. While the color is taken from the scenery, each shot from Ivan Sen is striking and impossible to not be drawn in. The camera sits in one place for longer than you might expect, as if contemplating its next move or taking in the information with the viewer.

Sen’s script, like the rest of the film, is meticulous and unhurried, reflecting Baker’s performance as Travis. Both take time to get to know the other characters and don’t simply rush to the next clue. Every conversation that Travis has you can see the wheels turning in his head, not only trying to make the pieces of the story fit but also taking in the despondent situation. There is so much empathy to be found in the locals, especially Charlie (Rob Collins) and Emma (Natasha Wanganeen) as they are most directly affected by Charlotte’s disappearance. Travis finds a lot in common with Charlie and Emma, and similarities in their stories allow him to get closer to them than any outsider typically would. Through their collective melancholy and isolation, they all find a bond with each other that helps get them over the hump of avoidance and moving toward healing.

Limbo is clearly not just a place, but a state of being for these characters. Each one is trapped in a situation they can’t get out of on their own, held up by anxieties of the unknown and lack of closure. The intentional filmmaking of Ivan Sen brings out this feeling perfectly, combining the black and white images with pensive shots and scenes devoid of score, save for a couple of moments that bookend the film. This modern take on the classic noir is truly riveting and makes for a realistic depiction of what it might look like to crack open a cold case and not get quite the movement you expected. The racial tensions at play also add to the story and are reminiscent of how outsiders and Indigenous peoples are treated in small towns by both the government and the long-time locals who have been there for decades.

Ivan Sen has crafted, nearly single-handedly (seriously, take a look at the crew list and see how much his name pops up), a masterwork of crime storytelling that takes you far beyond the case and into the underlying depressive state that sinks its teeth into the victims long after they’ve lost hope.

Limbo will debut in select theaters in New York and Los Angeles on March 22, 2024, courtesy of Brainstorm Media and Music Box Films. The film will expand to additional markets in the following weeks. 

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QbnjhKJxE2c]