On an annual fishing trip, in isolated high country,
Stewart, Carl, Rocco and Billy (‘the Kid’) find
a girl’s body in the river. It’s too late in the
day for them to hike back to the road and report
their tragic find. The next morning, instead of
making the long trek back, they spend the day fishing.
Their decision to stay on at the river is a little
mysterious—almost as if the place itself is exerting
some kind of magic over them. When the men finally
return home to Jindabyne, and report finding the
body, all hell breaks loose. Their wives can’t understand
how they could have gone fishing with the dead girl
right there in the water—she needed their help.
The men are confused—the girl was already dead,
there was nothing they could do for her.
Stewart’s wife Claire is the last to know. As details
filter out, and Stewart resists talking about what
has happened, she is unnerved. There is a callousness
about all of this which disturbs her deeply. Stewart
is not convinced that he has done anything wrong.
Claire’s faith in her relationship with her husband
is shaken to the core.
The fishermen, their wives and their children are
suddenly haunted by their own bad spirits. As public
opinion builds against the actions of the men, their
certainty about themselves and the decision they
made at the river is challenged. They cannot undo
what they have done.
Only Claire understands that some-thing fundamental
is not being addressed. She wants to understand
and tries to make things right. In her determination
Claire sets herself not only against her own family
and friends but also those of the dead girl. Her
marriage is taken to the brink and her peaceful
life with Stewart and their young son hangs in the
balance.