The Fox had its world premiere at AFF 2025 and we are delighted to present this encore screening in the lead up to its cinema release. A darkly comic folktale of an ordinary bloke and the fox who offers to solve all his problems.
2026
The Fox
2026
The Fox
Director
Dario Russo
Runtime
90 Minutes
Country
Australia
Classification
Unclassified 18+
Dario Russo, of Danger 5 cult fame, draws on Japanese and Korean folktales, as well as his own upbringing in the Adelaide Hills, with this story of a trickster fox let loose in the henhouse of Australian culture. Nick is your average good bloke – heart of gold, a bit thick, a dud root, looks forward to schnitty night at the pub. When his fiancée betrays him, Nick is unwise enough to listen to a fox who has a typically cunning scheme for returning his foxy lady to him. An all-star cast headed by Jai Courtney and Emily Browning, includes Miranda Otto and Kym Gyngell, with the voices of Olivia Colman and Sam Neill. There are also talking magpies, magic holes, and lots of yapping Jack Russells. Russo explores the struggle between domestication, commitment and stability against the wild and primal desire for freedom, novelty and lust—but most importantly, he does it in a very, very funny way.
“The Fox is my attempt to create a modern fable, leaning into the Japanese stories featuring the shape-shifting Kitsune. It explores themes including our conflicted relationship with the natural world and the borders we create between wildness and domestication, which can be used as a metaphor for the social constraints present in our society, the structures of interpersonal relationships, the institution of marriage, the unspoken expectations and contracts of relationships.”
Dario Russo
Film Credits
Director
Dario Russo
Year
2025
Country
Australia
Type
Feature Fiction
Program Strand
Adelaide Film Festival Investment Fund & Special Presentations
Producer
Kristina Ceyton, Samantha Jennings & Carly Maple
Writer
Dario Russo
Cinematographer
Matthew Chuang ACS
Editor
Dario Russo
Cast
Damon Herriman, Emily Browning & Jai Courtney
Music
Dario Russo
Genre
Comedy & Cult
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