When a young Indigenous couple brings home their baby, things take a sinister turn
Moogai is an Indigenous word that covers ghost, spirit, bogeyman and ‘stealer of children’. The last is the overarching theme of this film, written and directed by Jon Bell.
Moogai is an Indigenous word that covers ghost, spirit, bogeyman and “stealer of children”. The last is the overarching theme of The Moogai, written and directed by Indigenous filmmaker Jon Bell in an expansion of his 2020 short film, which is available on SBS On Demand.
The film opens in 1969. Two white men in black suits arrive on an Aboriginal mission to round up the children. Two sisters, Ruth and Agnes, flee into a cave. Agnes is taken by an unseen force. Ruth escapes with deep scratches on her face.
The rest of the film is set in 2024. Ruth (Tessa Rose) is the biological mother of corporate lawyer Sarah (Shari Sebbens), who is about to have her second child. Her husband, Fergus (Meyne Wyatt), is a carpenter.
Sarah does not consider Ruth her mother. The white couple she was placed with are who she calls mum and dad. Sarah, like her mother, is part of the Stolen Generation.
Sarah has a baby boy. Ruth turns up almost unannounced. She warns Sarah’s six-year-old daughter, Chloe (Jahdeana Mary), to “Look out for the Moogai”. Sarah responds that Ruth is “just a crazy old lady’’.
The Moogai is said to have extra long arms that it uses to snatch children from their parents. Whether this is real or a superstition, as Sarah calls it, is answered as the plot develops.
This movie, however, is more psychological thriller than jump scare horror.
As well as the Stolen Generations it explores themes such intergenerational trauma, generational differences, Indigenous-white relations and post-natal stress.
It is Sarah who starts acting a bit crazy. She has visions — of white-eyed girls warning her about the Moogai, or snakes in her baby’s crib — and becomes short-tempered and angry.
Her white doctor (Toby Leonard Moore) warns that “right now you are a danger to your children” and orders she be hospitalised, which in effect steals her from her children.
Her white colleague Becky (Bella Heathcote) lies to the police to protect herself at the expense of Sarah and her children. Does that make them metaphors for the Moogai, as were the men in black suits, wielding the long arm of the law? Maybe. Or maybe the Moogai is real and Ruth should be listened to.
This film, with its strong Indigenous themes, is a solid addition to the recent burst of well-received independent Australian horror movies.
The Moogai (M)
96 minutes
In cinemas from October 31