Nugget is Dead Director Imogen McCluskey on Bringing a True Blue Suburban Aussie Xmas to Life on Screen

The Curb

Director Imogen McCluskey continues her exploration of suburban Australia with the comedy-drama film Nugget is Dead: A Christmas Story. This delightfully relatable Aussie Xmas tale was written by Jenna Owen and Vic Zerbst, who both act in the film alongside Aussie screen legends like Gia Carides, Damien Garvey, Ed Oxenbould, Steve Rodgers, Mandy McElhinney, Kerry Armstrong, and Tiriel Mora, and more.

Steph Stool is a dermatologist in training who has her feet in two worlds. The shiny sheen of Sydney where the pull of her bougie boyf (Alec Snow) sees her drawn towards spending Christmas with his family. Early in the film we meet his mum (Tara Morice) who gives Steph the complicated and intense rundown of what's expected from their family experience. For them, Christmas will be the 'introduce the family to the girlfriend', a factor that further drives a wedge between Steph and her family who she carries a level of shame about.

But, Steph's disconnection with home is short lived when she receives a call from her mum (Gia Carides) saying that the family dog, Nugget, is dead. Well, not exactly dead, he's just not feeling that well. Not wanting to miss seeing the pup she grew up with one last time, Steph rushes home to be with her family, all the while thinking she'll be able to return in time for her boyfriends Christmas.

What follows is a rapturously delightful and utterly joyous celebration of Australian Xmas, full of a deep reverence for the tackiness of the tinsel strewn households, replete with a Coles bought pavlova and overburnt sausages on the barbecue. There's an emotional honesty and warmth to Nugget is Dead that is found in Imogen's first feature film, 2019's Suburban Wildlife, a narrative that explored the pressing disconnect that younger generations face when they want to seek a life out of the suburbs and in the city where they can grow.

That concern is within Nugget is Dead, but it's presented in such a deeply relatable and enjoyable manner that, by the time the climax arrives, you're not completely aware that you're shedding tears of joy and sadness at once.

As you'll hear in the following interview with Imogen, I loved this film a lot, and particularly enjoy experiencing the work of Imogen McCluskey and seeing how her perspective on Australia grows and changes on screen. Throughout the conversation, we chat about working alongside actors who are also the writers of the film, what her time at the AFI Directors Conservatory taught her as a filmmaker, and what she hopes audiences will get from watching Nugget is Dead together.

Nugget is Dead: A Christmas Story launches on Stan. on 21 November 2024.

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