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What do you get if you cross Kath And Kim with film noir? The answer is director Paul Goldman's Suburban Mayhem; only, that makes this film sound better than it is. We're in small-town Australia, and rising Kiwi actress Emily Barclay plays 19-year-old Katrina Skinner, an amoral and chain-smoking single-mother, who locals suspect was involved in her father's murder. Cue a hefty dose of black humour. Trouble is, Suburban Mayhem just isn't funny enough, or dark enough, to leave any lasting impression.

Debut screenwriter Alice Bell's quirky screenplay has won plaudits down under: we get the story of the murder of John Skinner (Robert Morgan) via flashbacks, with action scenes interspersed by documentary-style interviews of the protagonists after the event. Problems began, we learn, when Katrina's beloved brother, Danny (Laurence Breuls), was sent to prison. When father John refuses to sell his house to pay for lawyers, Katrina decides to have him bumped off; and begins wheedling her way around gullible boyfriend Rusty (Michael Dorman), and downright stupid friend Kenny (Anthony Hayes). Can she persuade either to do the deed?

"TOO LIGHTWEIGHT TO MATTER"

The rest is a frantic mix of sex, cigarettes, a little child neglect, and violence. We're not sure whether to find Katrina funny – Rusty's dim-witted commentaries do raise a smile – or simply appalling. That, surely, is the point; but the vein of dark humour running through this movie is never pushed hard enough, and there's not enough plot to sustain 90 minutes. Barclay's considerable on-screen presence means that she makes a good fist of the terrible, tarty Katrina. But, ultimately, Suburban Mayhem is just too lightweight to matter.

Surburban Mayhem is released in UK cinemas on Friday 26th January 2007.