Marta Dusseldorp unravels on a road trip of emotional truths

The Advertiser

09-05-2025

With Or Without You
M, 114 minutes
3 stars
This debut feature from Australian writer-director Kelly Schilling is frustrating. There are times it's achingly real and poignant and other times when things seem slapped together for the sake of storytelling convenience rather than stemming plausibly from the characters and situations. But the strengths - the acting and atmosphere and some well-drawn character moments - help make up for the less convincing parts.
Chloe (Melina Vidler, whose credits include 800 Words) didn't have the happiest of upbringings. She is the only child of Sharon (Marta Dusseldorp from A Place to Call Home), who had a string of unsuccessful relationships and is addicted to alcohol, much to the despair of her longsuffering sister Pat (Celine O'Leary), who bears the burden along with Chloe.
But Chloe also has a more immediate and dangerous problem. She's fled from an abusive partner who is stalking her and who incinerates her caravan, in which she had secreted her life savings to fund her escape.
Despite the loss, Chloe is determined to make a new life for herself and for her mother, whom she wants to help get sober. With the aid of a publican mate, Chloe gets a car, and lines up a job on the property of one of her mother's exes.
It's the set-up for a mother-daughter road trip, but there's someone else along for the ride.
Waiting for a late-night bus, Chloe met Dalu (Albert Mwangi from Bump). They got to chatting and he ended up cooking dinner - plantains - in her caravan before it was torched.
There's enough time put into this part of the story to make it work - while Chloe was wary, the two of them talked for a while and Dalu seemed nice enough. With the violent ex lurking about it didn't hurt to have someone accompany her home.
Dalu is apparently on a student visa and expecting money from home but he's hoping to earn a bit of cash. Although things get a little testy at times (Dalu is proud and Chloe and her mother aren't always tactful) they set off. Sharon's insistence on taking "the scenic route" through the bush rather than the highway leads to the first of many setbacks.
I mentioned that some elements seemed slapped together. Not once, but twice, Sharon stays behind with men she's barely met - a lonely middle-aged widower who comes to their rescue and a younger publican at one of their stops - as if they're going to be partners. Granted, she can be charming, but it beggars belief that this would happen so fast. If the film were more of a comedy, it would be easier to suspend disbelief, but it's just jarring, and it takes some time before mother and daughter are, inevitably, reunited. At least the scenarios are different.
There's one positive thing to say about both these encounters before they take a turn for the implausible: they illustrate, as Blanche DuBois put it, the kindness of strangers. Sometimes it's easier, maybe even more gratifying, to help people you don't know than people you do. It's a strong thread that runs through the film.
One thing the mother-daughter separations do is give some space for the relationship between Chloe and Dalu to develop. This isn't a rom com so we're not talking about witty banter and playfulness: what we have are a woman who's been hurt but might be open to love and a man who's charming but whose motives are not altogether clear.
Schilling and her team capture a particular Australian milieu effectively, a world of caravans and cheap motels and country pubs and hospitals that feels lived in and real.
The actors - especially the central trio - are all excellent and my reservations might not be shared by everyone. With Or Without You is certainly worth seeing.
With Or Without You
M, 114 minutes
3 stars
This debut feature from Australian writer-director Kelly Schilling is frustrating. There are times it's achingly real and poignant and other times when things seem slapped together for the sake of storytelling convenience rather than stemming plausibly from the characters and situations. But the strengths - the acting and atmosphere and some well-drawn character moments - help make up for the less convincing parts.
Chloe (Melina Vidler, whose credits include 800 Words) didn't have the happiest of upbringings. She is the only child of Sharon (Marta Dusseldorp from A Place to Call Home), who had a string of unsuccessful relationships and is addicted to alcohol, much to the despair of her longsuffering sister Pat (Celine O'Leary), who bears the burden along with Chloe.
But Chloe also has a more immediate and dangerous problem. She's fled from an abusive partner who is stalking her and who incinerates her caravan, in which she had secreted her life savings to fund her escape.
Despite the loss, Chloe is determined to make a new life for herself and for her mother, whom she wants to help get sober. With the aid of a publican mate, Chloe gets a car, and lines up a job on the property of one of her mother's exes.
It's the set-up for a mother-daughter road trip, but there's someone else along for the ride.
Waiting for a late-night bus, Chloe met Dalu (Albert Mwangi from Bump). They got to chatting and he ended up cooking dinner - plantains - in her caravan before it was torched.
There's enough time put into this part of the story to make it work - while Chloe was wary, the two of them talked for a while and Dalu seemed nice enough. With the violent ex lurking about it didn't hurt to have someone accompany her home.
Dalu is apparently on a student visa and expecting money from home but he's hoping to earn a bit of cash. Although things get a little testy at times (Dalu is proud and Chloe and her mother aren't always tactful) they set off. Sharon's insistence on taking "the scenic route" through the bush rather than the highway leads to the first of many setbacks.
I mentioned that some elements seemed slapped together. Not once, but twice, Sharon stays behind with men she's barely met - a lonely middle-aged widower who comes to their rescue and a younger publican at one of their stops - as if they're going to be partners. Granted, she can be charming, but it beggars belief that this would happen so fast. If the film were more of a comedy, it would be easier to suspend disbelief, but it's just jarring, and it takes some time before mother and daughter are, inevitably, reunited. At least the scenarios are different.
There's one positive thing to say about both these encounters before they take a turn for the implausible: they illustrate, as Blanche DuBois put it, the kindness of strangers. Sometimes it's easier, maybe even more gratifying, to help people you don't know than people you do. It's a strong thread that runs through the film.
One thing the mother-daughter separations do is give some space for the relationship between Chloe and Dalu to develop. This isn't a rom com so we're not talking about witty banter and playfulness: what we have are a woman who's been hurt but might be open to love and a man who's charming but whose motives are not altogether clear.
Schilling and her team capture a particular Australian milieu effectively, a world of caravans and cheap motels and country pubs and hospitals that feels lived in and real.
The actors - especially the central trio - are all excellent and my reservations might not be shared by everyone. With Or Without You is certainly worth seeing.
With Or Without You
M, 114 minutes
3 stars
This debut feature from Australian writer-director Kelly Schilling is frustrating. There are times it's achingly real and poignant and other times when things seem slapped together for the sake of storytelling convenience rather than stemming plausibly from the characters and situations. But the strengths - the acting and atmosphere and some well-drawn character moments - help make up for the less convincing parts.
Chloe (Melina Vidler, whose credits include 800 Words) didn't have the happiest of upbringings. She is the only child of Sharon (Marta Dusseldorp from A Place to Call Home), who had a string of unsuccessful relationships and is addicted to alcohol, much to the despair of her longsuffering sister Pat (Celine O'Leary), who bears the burden along with Chloe.
But Chloe also has a more immediate and dangerous problem. She's fled from an abusive partner who is stalking her and who incinerates her caravan, in which she had secreted her life savings to fund her escape.
Despite the loss, Chloe is determined to make a new life for herself and for her mother, whom she wants to help get sober. With the aid of a publican mate, Chloe gets a car, and lines up a job on the property of one of her mother's exes.
It's the set-up for a mother-daughter road trip, but there's someone else along for the ride.
Waiting for a late-night bus, Chloe met Dalu (Albert Mwangi from Bump). They got to chatting and he ended up cooking dinner - plantains - in her caravan before it was torched.
There's enough time put into this part of the story to make it work - while Chloe was wary, the two of them talked for a while and Dalu seemed nice enough. With the violent ex lurking about it didn't hurt to have someone accompany her home.
Dalu is apparently on a student visa and expecting money from home but he's hoping to earn a bit of cash. Although things get a little testy at times (Dalu is proud and Chloe and her mother aren't always tactful) they set off. Sharon's insistence on taking "the scenic route" through the bush rather than the highway leads to the first of many setbacks.
I mentioned that some elements seemed slapped together. Not once, but twice, Sharon stays behind with men she's barely met - a lonely middle-aged widower who comes to their rescue and a younger publican at one of their stops - as if they're going to be partners. Granted, she can be charming, but it beggars belief that this would happen so fast. If the film were more of a comedy, it would be easier to suspend disbelief, but it's just jarring, and it takes some time before mother and daughter are, inevitably, reunited. At least the scenarios are different.
There's one positive thing to say about both these encounters before they take a turn for the implausible: they illustrate, as Blanche DuBois put it, the kindness of strangers. Sometimes it's easier, maybe even more gratifying, to help people you don't know than people you do. It's a strong thread that runs through the film.
One thing the mother-daughter separations do is give some space for the relationship between Chloe and Dalu to develop. This isn't a rom com so we're not talking about witty banter and playfulness: what we have are a woman who's been hurt but might be open to love and a man who's charming but whose motives are not altogether clear.
Schilling and her team capture a particular Australian milieu effectively, a world of caravans and cheap motels and country pubs and hospitals that feels lived in and real.
The actors - especially the central trio - are all excellent and my reservations might not be shared by everyone. With Or Without You is certainly worth seeing.
With Or Without You
M, 114 minutes
3 stars
This debut feature from Australian writer-director Kelly Schilling is frustrating. There are times it's achingly real and poignant and other times when things seem slapped together for the sake of storytelling convenience rather than stemming plausibly from the characters and situations. But the strengths - the acting and atmosphere and some well-drawn character moments - help make up for the less convincing parts.
Chloe (Melina Vidler, whose credits include 800 Words) didn't have the happiest of upbringings. She is the only child of Sharon (Marta Dusseldorp from A Place to Call Home), who had a string of unsuccessful relationships and is addicted to alcohol, much to the despair of her longsuffering sister Pat (Celine O'Leary), who bears the burden along with Chloe.
But Chloe also has a more immediate and dangerous problem. She's fled from an abusive partner who is stalking her and who incinerates her caravan, in which she had secreted her life savings to fund her escape.
Despite the loss, Chloe is determined to make a new life for herself and for her mother, whom she wants to help get sober. With the aid of a publican mate, Chloe gets a car, and lines up a job on the property of one of her mother's exes.
It's the set-up for a mother-daughter road trip, but there's someone else along for the ride.
Waiting for a late-night bus, Chloe met Dalu (Albert Mwangi from Bump). They got to chatting and he ended up cooking dinner - plantains - in her caravan before it was torched.
There's enough time put into this part of the story to make it work - while Chloe was wary, the two of them talked for a while and Dalu seemed nice enough. With the violent ex lurking about it didn't hurt to have someone accompany her home.
Dalu is apparently on a student visa and expecting money from home but he's hoping to earn a bit of cash. Although things get a little testy at times (Dalu is proud and Chloe and her mother aren't always tactful) they set off. Sharon's insistence on taking "the scenic route" through the bush rather than the highway leads to the first of many setbacks.
I mentioned that some elements seemed slapped together. Not once, but twice, Sharon stays behind with men she's barely met - a lonely middle-aged widower who comes to their rescue and a younger publican at one of their stops - as if they're going to be partners. Granted, she can be charming, but it beggars belief that this would happen so fast. If the film were more of a comedy, it would be easier to suspend disbelief, but it's just jarring, and it takes some time before mother and daughter are, inevitably, reunited. At least the scenarios are different.
There's one positive thing to say about both these encounters before they take a turn for the implausible: they illustrate, as Blanche DuBois put it, the kindness of strangers. Sometimes it's easier, maybe even more gratifying, to help people you don't know than people you do. It's a strong thread that runs through the film.
One thing the mother-daughter separations do is give some space for the relationship between Chloe and Dalu to develop. This isn't a rom com so we're not talking about witty banter and playfulness: what we have are a woman who's been hurt but might be open to love and a man who's charming but whose motives are not altogether clear.
Schilling and her team capture a particular Australian milieu effectively, a world of caravans and cheap motels and country pubs and hospitals that feels lived in and real.
The actors - especially the central trio - are all excellent and my reservations might not be shared by everyone. With Or Without You is certainly worth seeing.