A retired footballer becomes the coach of his hometown’s struggling Australian Rules Football team in THE MERGER, a hilarious, heartfelt comedy from Down Under. The town of Bodgy Creek has seen better days. Jobs are scarce and their beloved footy club, The Roosters, looks like it will have to merge with another team or fold. Living a hermit-like existence on his farm, former AFL star player Troy Carrington (Damian Callinan) hatches a plan to save The Roosters after striking up an unlikely friendship with Neil (Rafferty Grierson), a 10-year-old aspiring filmmaker who recently lost his father. Joining forces with Neil’s mother, Angie (Kate Mulvany, “The Hunters”), who runs a nearby refugee support center, Troy rebuilds the rag-tag team and leads the community on a journey of change and redemption.
For thoughts on The Merger, please check out our discussion on The Video Attic:
[youtube https://youtu.be/mpIRV9Y4wVs?si=AGp4AgXW307ke0ZG&t=4119]
Video Quality
The Merger comes to MOD Blu-Ray in a 1080p presentation that is very enjoyable across the board. The film has a solid, workmanlike aesthetic, never getting too adventurous in its movement or shot construction. The vibrant natural environments and reserved interiors both present with an incredible amount of detail and dimension. There are no instances of excessive digital noise in the presentation outside of a few rare moments against certain gradients.
The colors are provided with a lovely, natural saturation which never comes up short when it comes to accuracy and vibrancy. Skin tones appear to be pleasing with impressive facets apparent in close-ups. The highlights pop without veering into blooming, and the black levels only appear the slightest bit raised at points without suffering from any compression artifacts. We are glad this one finally made the cut for a Blu-Ray release, and Indiepix Films has done a nice job overall.
Audio Quality
The film comes to Blu-Ray with an LPCM 2.0 track in the original English that is quite good. The movie does feature some light verbal sparring, but the more reserved moments make up the majority of the film as they provide your standard environmental activity which comes through favorably. The music underscores some of the emotional moments as they emanate with excellent fidelity. Dialogue and sound effects such as the scoreboard are perfectly balanced with competing elements where nothing gets overshadowed in the mix. The low end of the track adds a bit of surface level texture to certain scenes which is appreciated. There is nothing to be disappointed by here. This comes with optional English SDH subtitles.
Special Features
- Making The Merger: An 11-minute piece which features some interviews with the cast and creative team as they delve into the origins of the narrative, thematic layers of the story, developing new characters not in the original stage play, the casting process, developing the score and more.
- Interview with Mark Grentell by Cinema Australia: A 14-minute interview with the director in which he discusses Australia’s response to refugees, how reality mirrors art, the emotional arc of the film, the audience response, why he is drawn to sports films and more.
- Official Trailer: The two-and-a-half minute trailer is provided here.
Final Thoughts
The Merger is your classic underdog story which is given some additional thematic weight as it weaves in some real-world geopolitical issues impacting Australia and beyond. The film is very humorous without sacrificing the seriousness of the narrative presented. The tonal balance is well executed thanks to the nimble performances from the ensemble. This is not quite to the level of some of the greatest underdog stories ever told, but those looking for a crowd-pleasing movie that is appropriate for the entire family will find this fits the bill. IndiePix Films has released a Blu-Ray featuring a pretty strong A/V presentation and a decent selection of special features. Recommended
The Merger will be available to purchase on Blu-Ray and DVD on September 26, 2023.
Note: Images presented in this review are not reflective of the image quality of the Blu-Ray.
Disclaimer: IndiePix Films and MVD Entertainment have supplied a copy of this disc free of charge for review purposes. All opinions in this review are the honest reactions of the author.
Dillon is most comfortable sitting around in a theatre all day watching both big budget and independent movies.
![‘Hamnet’ Review – A Devastating, Exalted Work Exploring Grief Through Art [TIFF 2025]](https://cdn.geekvibesnation.com/wp-media-folder-geek-vibes-nation/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Hamnet-4238_D005_00229_R-300x169.jpg "‘Hamnet’ Review – A Devastating, Exalted Work Exploring Grief Through Art [TIFF 2025]")
