The generational housing clash reaches a bloody end in this new film

The Sheep Detectives, starring Hugh Jackman, has been charming audiences this May. (Supplied) Link copiedShareShare articleWelcome to the ABC Arts May film wrap. This month sees Australian director use the local housing crisis as a vehicle for generation on generation horror in Birthright. Plus the rom-com of yore returns in Finding Emily, the farmyard mystery that's been delighting audiences, and a gory Hollywood video game adaptation filmed on the Gold Coast. Australia's housing crisis reaches a grisly end in Birthright. (Supplied: Madman Entertainment) Australia's housing affordability crisis isn't just being reflected in policy decisions and water-cooler conversations — it's being mirrored in art. Starring: Travis Jeffery, Maria Angelico, Michael Hurst, Linda Cropper Writer Fiona Wright has penned a novel titled Kill the Boomersthat is everything its title suggests, and Bloomshed’s reimagining of Pride and Prejudice in an age of unimpeded landlords and increased concentration of wealth was recently restaged at Malthouse Theatre in Melbourne. Enter Zoe Pepper’s debut feature film Birthright, a tragicomedy that applies a razor-sharp lens to the very same topic. Cory (Travis Jeffery) and his pregnant wife Jasmine (Maria Angelico) are down and out. Dangerously close to Jasmine's due date without a roof over their heads or jobs, they find refuge in Cory's icy parents' (the excellent duo of Michael Hurst and Linda Cropper) well-appointed house. What ensues is an intergenerational battle of wits as both sides attempt to wrest control from the other in pursuit (or safeguarding) of what Cory and Jasmine are sorely missing — housing security. Pepper's sharp script hits achingly familiar beats, from the precarity of short-term contracts to classic talking points trotted out by boomers as they justify their fortune. But implausibilities hamper the film from the outset. How realistic is it that only child Cory would be left high and dry by his parents? Isn't the favourably taxed inheritance of intergenerational wealth one of the reasons we're in this mess of inequality? Birthright never quite addresses this as the film shifts (too) quickly from realism into increasingly unhinged territory, as horrifically enjoyable as the ride is. Australian actor Angourie Rice stars in rom-com Finding Emily. (Supplied: Universal) They don't make rom-coms like they used to. Whether it's because we're collectively disillusioned about love as we grapple with societal collapse or missing the screenwriting nous of Richard Curtis and his ilk, there hasn't been a moment for the ages quite like Meg Ryan's feigned orgasm in When Harry Met Sally. Starring: Angourie Rice, Spike Fearn, Cora Kirk, Minnie Driver, Phil Wang No chase quite as comically suspenseful as Julia Roberts chasing after Dermot Mulroney chasing after Cameron Diaz in My Best Friend's Wedding. No moment as moving as John Hannah's eulogy in Four Weddings and a Funeral. But we now have Finding Emily, and what a rom-com it is. The archetypes are alive and present, albeit updated to reflect the contemporary discourse. Two individuals as unlike one another as Bridget Jones and Mark Darcy? Tick. An underlying betrayal a la Ten Things I Hate About You and She's All That? Tick. A heartbreaking reveal culminating in a humiliating grand gesture of love? Tick. Spike Fearn plays idealistic Mancunian musician Owen, a delightfully awkward and gentle-hearted young man who meets the love of his life, Emily, one night. But the phone number she's given him is missing a digit and Owen has no way of getting in touch with her. Enter budding academic Emily (Angourie Rice), a misguided cynic who's conducting an experiment on the futility of love and has found her perfect guinea pig in the lovestruck Owen. Together, they team up to find nightclub Emily — sparking heated discussions about male entitlement, the manic pixie dream girl trope, class disparity and the ugliness of unchecked ambition as their quest takes on a life that transcends them. Under Alicia MacDonald's direction, Rachel Hirons's screenplay is grounded in a strong sense of place and the unbridled freedom of youth. Manchester's queer and indie nightlife is beautifully brought to the fore, featuring a special appearance by Blossoms, drag queens and cosy pubs scattered along Canal Street. Fearn and Rice expertly inhabit lived-in characters with utterly believable chemistry, supported by a cast of friends and family as idiosyncratic as they are charming. The rom-com of yesteryear is so back. Claire Foy and Brendan Gleeson in H is for Hawk. (Supplied: Roadside Attractions) Best known for her period drama roles (Women Talking, The Crown) a bare-faced Claire Foy brings her talents to the present day — well, 2007 — in this nature film adaptation of Helen Macdonald's award-winning memoir, H is for Hawk. Starring: Claire Foy, Brendan Gleeson, Denise Gough The film centres around Helen (Foy) and her grief following t

The generational housing clash reaches a bloody end in this new film

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