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The Proposition

The Proposition

Western · Drama · 2005

In 1880s Australia, a lawman offers renegade Charlie Burns a difficult choice. In order to save his younger brother from the gallows, Charlie must hunt down and kill his older brother, who is wanted for rape and murder. Venturing into one of the Outback's most inhospitable regions, Charlie faces a terrible moral dilemma that can end only in violence.

Movie details

The Proposition

“This land will be civilized.”

2005 Western · Drama 1h 44m

Critical arithmetic

One number, for now.

TMDB

7.0 / 10

Community rating

In 1880s Australia, a lawman offers renegade Charlie Burns a difficult choice. In order to save his younger brother from the gallows, Charlie must hunt down and kill his older brother, who is wanted for rape and murder. Venturing into one of the Outback's most inhospitable regions, Charlie faces a terrible moral dilemma that can end only in violence.

CriticWise case file

What this film says about your taste.

Not a recommendation score. A measure of how closely the film’s taste signals resemble yours.

The archetype split

Who fights over The Proposition?

The split comes from the same five-axis model used by the test, not audience ratings or review sentiment.

Taste neighbourhood

Nearby on the taste map.

TMDB supplies the candidates. CriticWise reorders them by craft, strangeness, prestige, emotion, and pace.

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Ten years after a severe economic collapse in the western world, lawlessness reigns and life is cheap. Eric is a lone drifter, and his car is his only possession. When a gang steals it, Eric comes across the injured Rey, left behind by the car thieves. The pair form an unlikely and uneasy alliance.

The Nightingale

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In 1825, Clare, a 21-year-old Irish convict, chases a British soldier through the rugged Tasmanian wilderness, bent on revenge for a terrible act of violence he committed against her family. She enlists the services of an Aboriginal tracker who is also marked by trauma from his own violence-filled past.

Quigley Down Under

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American Matt Quigley answers Australian land baron Elliott Marston's ad for a sharpshooter to kill the dingoes on his property. But when Quigley finds out that Marston's real target is the aborigines, Quigley hits the road. Now, even American expatriate Crazy Cora can't keep Quigley safe in his cat-and-mouse game with the homicidal Marston.

The Hateful Eight

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True History of the Kelly Gang

True History of the Kelly Gang

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Wake in Fright

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A young schoolteacher descends into personal moral degradation after finding himself stranded in a brutal, menacing town in outback Australia.

Where it lives

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Names above the title

The people responsible.

Directed by

John Hillcoat

Written by

Nick Cave

Guy Pearce

Guy Pearce

Charlie Burns

Ray Winstone

Ray Winstone

Captain Morris Stanley

Danny Huston

Danny Huston

Arthur Burns

Emily Watson

Emily Watson

Martha Stanley

David Wenham

David Wenham

Eden Fletcher

Richard Wilson

Richard Wilson

Mike Burns

John Hurt

John Hurt

Jellon Lamb

Court is in session

Put The Proposition on trial.

Two incompatible taste archetypes. One film. Read the arguments, then issue a completely binding cultural ruling.

The defence The Prestige Tourist

“Ambition earns the room.”

The film reaches for consequence and scale, accepting the risk of seriousness instead of shrinking from it.

The prosecution The Popcorn Loyalist

“Importance has entered the chat.”

The production keeps announcing its significance, as though awards-season posture were proof of insight.