Official synopsis
After a drug-fueled car crash, two entitled private-school graduates flee into Melbourne’s nightlife, where a night of excess spirals out of control and exposes the cost of their privilege.
Review
Often genre films that deliberately feature despicable, unlikable main characters with no one for whom to truly root offer little to no reason for viewers to get invested. Thankfully, writer/director Gideon Aroni’s Australian thriller Pure Scum bucks that trend marvelously as its pair of drug-fueled young men make one idiotic decision after another, making for a mesmerizing ride.
Ayden (Will Hutchins) and Jesse (Nikita Chronis) are friends who met in private school, from which they have recently graduated. Both come from well-off families/ Jesse has a reputation as a drug user and bad boy, and Ayden falls into Jesse’s group after a seemingly more innocent upbringing.
Pure Scum involves news magazine-type interviews with family and friends of the two young men taking place after the fateful night where the two are involved in a hit-and-run accident that leaves a mother and her young daughter in critical condition. Already under the influence of drugs, Ayden and Jesse get themselves and others in increasingly worse trouble as the Melbourne night goes on.
Without wanting to give away spoilers, suffice it to say that Aroni expertly builds suspense as lives are lost and life-altering decisions are made. Darkly comic moments compliment the solid pacing and tense drama. Aroni deftly crafts a film that comments on such social issues as toxic masculinity, substance abuse, and the negative side of privilege in a work that keeps its genre-film elements at the forefront. Hutchins and Cronis give incredible performances as they head up a strong overall cast.
Pure Scum is a unique independent thriller that captivates throughout. Highly recommended for genre-film aficionados of all stripes.
Pure Scum opens August 19, 2026 at Alamo Drafthouse Cinemas.
