[Editorial] The Loved Ones (2009)

2009 was a pretty good year for horror; Sam Raimi reminded us that manners sometimes cost everything with Drag Me To Hell, Megan Fox and Amanda Seyfried made straight women and gay men everywhere question their sexuality with Jennifer’s Body, a Halloween icon and viewing tradition for horror fans everywhere was born with Trick r Treat, and the not-so-wholesome Tom Six came along and put people everywhere off eating anything ever again with The Human Centipede.

Remakes were a big thing too with My Bloody Valentine, The Last House on the Left, Friday the 13th, and Sorority Row all being rebooted and released in the same year.  However, not a single one of these big releases impressed critics quite as much as Sean Byrne’s feature debut The Loved Ones. In fact, to this day, you would still be hard pressed to find any ‘Best Australian Horror’ list that doesn’t feature it in their top 5. 

When most people think of Australian horror, they go straight to one of two films – The Babadook or Wolf Creek. (Fun fact: John Jarrett of Wolf Creek was approached to appear in The Loved Ones, but feared that acting in another horror film would type- cast him and declined. How’d that work out for him?) It may not be as well known, but since its limited theatrical release over 10 years ago, The Loved Ones has managed to achieve cult status amongst horror fans, tackling themes such as depression, sexual consent and incest in a way that is easy to digest. Those who have seen this relatively low-budget gem of a film, are unlikely to ever forget it. Starring Twilight heartthrob Xavier Samuel, The Loved Ones follows Brent Mitchell (Samuel) as he battles with depression and suicidal thoughts following a car crash that led to the death of his father one year earlier.  

With the love and support of his girlfriend Holly (Victoria Thaine), he begins to see the light again, so when another classmate Lola Stone (Robin McLeavy) asks him to the school dance, he politely declines, unknowingly setting off a series of events that will lead to excruciating consequences. The first act of the film really takes time to set up the relationships between Brent and Holly, and between Brent and his mother who is clearly still overwhelmed with grief at the loss of her husband, and terrified of losing her son. We also get to meet, who we assume is, Brent’s best friend, Jamie (Richard Wilson). 

Jamie is light and airy as he shares his plans to ask out goth-girl Mia (Jessica McNamee) who just so happens to be the Sheriffs’ daughter. Juxtaposed with Brent’s obvious heavy brooding, you automatically wonder how these two are such good friends. Was this what Brent was like before tragedy took over? After a heated argument takes place, in which his mother’s overprotectiveness is misconstrued as blame, Brent storms out of the house, but he doesn’t get to agonise for too long before Lola and her ‘Daddy’ (John Brumpton) kidnap him. Lola is out for revenge, but first, she is going to get the high school dance experience that she has always dreamed of – complete with her very own Prince.

Despite the all-out torture and violence that follows, The Loved Ones is really  about the unique interpretation of these usually token and predictable characters. The brooding guy with a tragic back story, suicidal thoughts, and a penchant for heavy metal is not the villain here. Instead, it’s the quiet unassuming daddy’s girl next door - the girl who makes scrap books full of animal stickers and glitter. The girl dancing around her bedroom to sickly sounding pop-ballads (you will never forget Kasey Chambers’ Am I not pretty enough?  after this). The girl who’s pink from her eyeshadow, to her cheeks, to her dress, to her shoes.

Brent has issues, sure, but we get to see that underneath those, he is sensitive and loving, and the only person he wishes to harm is himself. Lola, however, is absolutely demented, to the point that even her own father is clearly scared of her, and he responds to her every wish  out of an unusual mix of fear and attraction to his ‘Princess’. 

Women in horror are usually painted as victims, even when they are the ones doling out the pain – whether it’s as a means of escape, or revenge, or unprocessed trauma. What makes Lola utterly terrifying is that she appears to have just been born this way. She is 17 years old, but quickly interchanges between this powerful, sexual, commanding presence and a tantrum-throwing toddler pouting her lips and demanding she gets her own way. It’s both confusing and comical, and leaves you always wondering where on earth she will take things next. 

McLeavy prepared for her role by researching serial killer Jeffery Dahmer and watching Misery and Natural Born Killers as suggested by Sean Byrne. It’s certainly clear to see the influence she took from these films, but her performance is, no doubt, one of a kind and absolutely outstanding. Unfortunately, the sub plot to this film with Jamie, Mia and her father is frustrating and unnecessary. The characters are unlikeable and honestly? a very unrealistic match. Whilst we can all appreciate that opposites attract, and that on the surface they offer some comic relief, there is no real payoff to the twist that they’re utilised for. 

We’re expected to root for Jamie as the nerdy nice guy trying to get the girl who is clearly way too cool and uninterested. However, instead of coming off sweet, his actions are questionable to say the least, and comes across as predatory and self-serving. This is something that may be unintentional, or that you may not have noticed  back in 2009 – maybe Sean Byrne did it on purpose, maybe he didn’t -  but in 2021 with the Me Too Movement and education on consent being more and more widespread, it’s hard to look at this plotline and the events that take place without seeing and feeling something more sinister.

The Loved Ones presents us with two totally different kinds of villains, but as we’re left to (mostly) imagine the fate of these characters, you can’t help but feel like the time would have been better spent giving us more of Brent, Daddy and Lola. Overall though, the time we do spend with them is worth every excruciating second. Regardless of the short run time, the torture scenes are prolonged and uncomfortable, and the sound effects used will have you struggling to decide whether to use your hands to cover your eyes or your ears. The violence is ramped up dramatically throughout, and just when you think things can’t get any more absurd or intense… they bring in a drill. The final sequence is an adrenaline rush so realistic and so thoroughly satisfying that, as the credits roll, you simply cannot help but smile. 

In 2013, here in the UK, one horror fanatic loved this film so much that after being arrested for killing his friend in a vicious attack, the Judge actually mentioned it by name, stating that “He was acting out a scene with chilling similarity to one he particularly liked in an Australian film called The Loved Ones”. Enjoy the film, but don’t kill people, kids. 

The Loved Ones isn’t a cinematic masterpiece, there are no OTT special effects or CGI used, and there is no illustrious score layered over every scene to make it more poignant and emotional.  It just has that something – and that something is a fantastic leading lady who has claimed her iconic status amongst horror villains and will maintain it for years to come.

Hell hath no fury like a schoolgirl scorned.

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