SERIOUSLY RED
★★★
OUT 16 FEBRUARY / CERT TBC / 94 MINS
DIRECTOR Gracie Otto
CAST Krew Boylan, Rose Byrne, Bobby Cannavale, Daniel Webber
This Aussie comedy sees the titular Red (Krew Boylan) trade her humdrum nine-to-five for a career impersonating her heroine, Dolly Parton. Falling in with a motley crew of musical mimics (including Rose Byrne as a bizarrely convincing Elvis Presley), Red soon begins to lose her grip on reality as the line between herself and Dolly blurs. It’s a tonally uneven affair — pinballing between high-camp hijinks, eerie psychodrama and cloying sentimentality — but there’s still much to enjoy here, particularly in the film’s raucous early stages, which explore the surreal chaos of tribute-act culture (“I saw Katy Perry making out with Katy Perry!”) Much like Parton herself, Seriously Red is bold, big-hearted and lots of fun.