Thou Shalt Not Steal (TV series)

Last updated

Thou Shalt Not Steal
Thou Shalt Not Steal.jpg
Genre
Created by
Directed byDylan River
Starring
Composer Vincent Goodyer
Country of originAustralia
Original languageEnglish
No. of seasons1
No. of episodes8
Production
Executive producers
  • Daley Pearson
  • Charlie Aspinwall
  • Tanith Glynn-Maloney
  • Sophie Miller
Producers
  • Lauren Brown
  • Sam Moor
CinematographyTyson Perkins
EditorChris Plummer
Camera setup Single-camera
Production companies
Original release
Network Stan
Release17 October 2024 (2024-10-17)

Thou Shalt Not Steal is an Australian crime comedy drama television series created by Dylan River and Tanith Glynn-Maloney that premiered on 17 October 2024, on Stan. The series follows a pair of teenagers as they are chased across the desert by a sex worker and fraudulent preacher. It stars Sherry-Lee Watson, Will McDonald, Miranda Otto, Noah Taylor, Darren Gilshenan, Shari Sebbens, Natasha Wanganeen, and Warren H. Williams.

Contents

Premise

Thou Shalt Not Steal is a 1980s-set road drama that follows young Aboriginal delinquent Robyn, who escapes juvenile detention and visits her terminally ill Grandfather, Ringer, in the hospital. Ringer demands to be taken back home, where he claims to have an important errand.

After being unable to pay for a taxi, Robyn is confronted by the driver, Maxine, a madam who tries to recruit her as payment. After a scuffle, Robyn steals the taxi and flees with her Grandfather. Ringer's condition worsens during the drive and he tells Robyn her father is still alive and that he wants her to return a trophy to him. He passes away shortly before they reach the town.

Meanwhile, a fraudulent Preacher, Robert, and his son, Gidge, hold court throughout the town, conducting sermons and secretly selling booze. Gidge desperately wants to leave his father and return to his mother in Adelaide.

Shortly after finding the trophy, Robyn discovers that police have come looking for her and she makes a plan to escape in the stolen taxi. Sensing an opportunity to go home, Gidge hides, stowed away under the backseat. Unaware of his presence, she sets off to find her father in Coober Pedy.

The next day, Maxine arrives in the town and begins making enquiries about the whereabouts of her Taxi. Robert offers her the use of his car to track the teenagers down and they set off in pursuit.

Cast and characters

Episodes

No.
in
season		TitleDirected byWritten byOriginal Air Date
1"Chapter one: All This For A Cup"
 Dylan River Dylan RiverOctober 17, 2024
2"Chapter Two: Stealin' Donkeys"Dylan River, Tanith Glynn-Maloney, Sophie Miller
3"Chapter Three: Coober Pedy's A Long Way"
4"Chapter Four: Bullet To The Head..."
5"Chapter Five: There Will Be Murder"Dylan River, Sophie Miller
6"Chapter Six: Biggest Disappointment"Dylan River, Sophie Miller & Samuel Nuggin-Paynter
7"Chapter Seven: Ball Bags"
8"Chapter Eight: Happy Endings"Dylan River, Tanith Glynn-Maloney, Sophie Miller, Benedict Paxton-Crick

Production

Development

In 2023, Australian streaming platform Stan announced they were partnering with Ludo Studio to commission an eight-episode road series set in Central and South Australia. Dylan River & Tanith Glynn-Maloney were announced as the series creators, with River to direct all eight episodes. The series received financial investment from Screen Australia, production support from South Australian Film Corporation, Screen Territory and post production incentives from Screen Queensland. [1]

River wrote a 300-page treatment for the project over the COVID-19 lockdowns. [2] The series was intended to build on the themes and tone explored by River in his 2019 series Robbie Hood. [2] River explained he wanted to look at Aboriginal political issues "but through comedy . . . sort of like bent, twisted ways of looking at some dire situations,". [3] Part of River's motivation was to make a series which could reach a more mainstream audience, as he felt like he had been "preaching to the converted" with previous projects and that "Indigenous filmmaking, for the most part, hasn’t quite reached more of a commercial audience." [4]

The decision to set the series in the 1980s was based on River's love for the mechanical aesthetics of the era, stories he had heard from his family and the challenge of storytelling without mobile phones. [4] [2] He said: "I love mechanical stuff... I own a couple of 1970s Fords... And storytelling before mobile phones, it's harder but more rewarding. Also, I grew up with a father who was a teenager in the '80s and I'd always hear stories and wish I was around at that time". River also spoke about the "wild" nature of Alice Springs during the period and how petty crimes often became the basis of recreational activities. [4]

In September 2023, Sherry-Lee Watson, Will McDonald, Miranda Otto and Noah Taylor were cast in the series. [5]

Shooting

The production began Principal photography in Alice Springs during September 2023. [5]

The series' exteriors were largely shot on the road in locations between Alice Springs and Adelaide, while interiors were shot in Adelaide. [4] [6] River was determined to film in real world locations that aligned with the character's journey through the story as much as possible.

Release

The series had its world premiere at the 2024 Toronto International Film Festival, with a screening of the first three episodes [2] [7] All eight episodes would later screen at the Araluen Arts Centre in Alice Springs [8] and SXSW Sydney. [9] [10]

The series was released on Stan on 17 October 2024. [9] [6]

International rights for the series were handled by DCD Rights. [2]

Reception

Critical response

Thou Shalt Not Steal received a positive response from reviewers. [11] Luke Buckmaster for The Guardian said "Thou Shalt Not Steal has future classic written all over it." [12] Craig Mathieson for The Sydney Morning Herald wrote "it manages to find a genuine emotional core in its young absconders" [11] The series also notably received positive comparisons to the works of the Coen brothers. [13] [12]

Sherry-Lee Watson's role was praised as a "star-making lead". [11] Reviewers noted that she did "much of the heavy lifting" [13] and had a performance "chock-full of youthful intemperance, moving with a coy and cheeky swagger." [12]

Both Miranda Otto and Noah Taylor were commended for their performances, with Otto "providing some real menace" and Taylor "as the dissolute man of religion is both entertainingly shabby and possibly someone you’d best keep at a distance." [13]

The Sydney Morning Herald commended the show's directing, saying River "knows exactly when to cut to a striking wide shot, so these chaotic characters are suddenly framed by the desert’s vastness." [11] While The Guardian said, "River bolts out of the gates and maintains a rambunctiously entertaining tone until the very last scene." [12]

The show's use of music was also celebrated, with the soundtrack creating "bounce and jive". Buckmaster praised the show's use of Slim Dusty's "The Biggest Disappointment" as a reflection of the series' attitudes and themes. [12]

Related Research Articles

<i>A Town Like Alice</i> 1950 novel by Nevil Shute

A Town Like Alice is a romance novel by Nevil Shute, published in 1950 when Shute had newly settled in Australia. Jean Paget, a young Englishwoman, becomes romantically interested in a fellow prisoner of World War II in Malaya, and after liberation emigrates to Australia to be with him, where she attempts, by investing her substantial financial inheritance, to generate economic prosperity in a small outback community—to turn it into "a town like Alice" i.e. Alice Springs.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ham (son of Noah)</span> Biblical figure, son of Noah

Ham, according to the Table of Nations in the Book of Genesis, was the second son of Noah and the father of Cush, Mizraim, Phut and Canaan.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Miranda Otto</span> Australian actress (born 1967)

Miranda Otto is an Australian actress. She is the daughter of actors Barry and Lindsay Otto and the paternal half-sister of actress Gracie Otto. Otto began her acting career in 1986 at age 18 and appeared in a variety of independent and major studio films in Australia. She made her major film debut in Emma's War in 1987 in which she played a teenager who moves to Australia's bush country during World War II.

Geoff Morrell is an Australian actor.

<i>The Merry Adventures of Robin Hood</i> Book by Howard Pyle

The Merry Adventures of Robin Hood of Great Renown in Nottinghamshire is an 1883 novel by the American illustrator and writer Howard Pyle. Pyle compiled the traditional Robin Hood ballads as a series of episodes of a coherent narrative. For his characters' dialog, Pyle adapted the late Middle English of the ballads into a dialect suitable for children.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jodi Martin</span> Australian singer-songwriter

Jodi Miranda Martin is an Australian singer-songwriter. Her professional music career began in mid-1996 while she was still a student, when she was the opening act for Arlo Guthrie's first Australian tour. Brisbane Times called her "one of Australia's most up and coming singer songwriters." She has been influenced by Joni Mitchell and compared to Tracy Chapman and Suzanne Vega.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Robyn Malcolm</span> New Zealand actress

Robyn Jane Malcolm is a New Zealand actress, who first gained recognition for her role as nurse Ellen Crozier on the soap opera Shortland Street. She is best known for playing Cheryl West, matriarch to a sometimes criminal working-class family, in the television series Outrageous Fortune. She has also worked in Australia, including roles in the TV series Rake and Upper Middle Bogan. She plays the lead role in the six-part 2023 NZ drama After the Party.

Justin Rosniak is an Australian television and film actor, best known for his appearances in the television series Packed to the Rafters, Police Rescue, Squinters and Mr Inbetween.

Darren Gilshenan is an Australian actor and writer. He is best known for his roles in television series The Moodys, Maximum Choppage, Chandon Pictures and Full Frontal.

Bonnie Sveen is an Australian actress. She began her acting career at the Huon Valley Theatre Company, before attending the National Institute of Dramatic Art. In 2010, Sveen starred in the multi-story drama film Before the Rain and made a guest appearance in the soap opera Home and Away. In 2013, Sveen appeared as the freed slave Chadara in Spartacus: Vengeance. Sveen also joined the main cast of Home and Away as Ricky Sharpe. For her portrayal of Ricky, Sveen won the Logie Award for Most Popular New Talent. Sveen appeared as Ricky in the 2015 spin-off Home and Away: An Eye for an Eye. The following year, she announced her departure from Home and Away, after she was cast in the Seven Network drama The Secret Daughter, alongside Jessica Mauboy.

<i>Mystery Road</i> (TV series) Australian television series

Mystery Road is an Australian television crime mystery series whose first series screened on ABC TV from 3 June 2018. The series is a spin-off from Ivan Sen's feature films Mystery Road and Goldstone, taking place in between the two. Aboriginal Australian detective Jay Swan, played by Aaron Pedersen, is the main character and actor in both the films and in the first two TV series, each of six episodes.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dylan River</span> Australian film director, writer, and cinematographer

Dylan River is an Australian film director, writer, and cinematographer. He co-wrote and directed the series Robbie Hood in 2019, and is known for his as cinematographer on the 2020 series The Beach, documenting his father, Warwick Thornton. He also wrote and directed episodes of the prequel TV series Mystery Road: Origin (2022), and in 2024 is co-creator and director of Thou Shalt Not Steal.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ludo Studio</span> Australian production company

Ludo Studio Pty. Ltd. is an Australian television and film production company based in Fortitude Valley, Queensland. Founded by Daley Pearson and Charlie Aspinwall in 2012, it is known for producing the television series Bluey (2018), Thou Shalt Not Steal (2024), The Strange Chores (2019), Robbie Hood (2019) and #7DaysLater (2013), and also producing the web series Doodles (2015) and Content (2019).

A Sunburnt Christmas is a 2020 Australian Christmas film, made as a Stan original. Directed by Christiaan Van Vuuren on his feature-length debut, from a script by Elliot Vella, Gretel Vella, and Timothy Walker, the film stars Daniel Henshall, Sullivan Stapleton, and Tatiana Goode.

Anni Finsterer is an Australian actress. For her performance in 3 Acts of Murder she won the 2009 Australian Film Institute Award for Best Guest or Supporting Actress in Television Drama.

After the Party is a New Zealand six-part drama TV series co-created by Robyn Malcolm and Dianne Taylor, directed by Peter Salmon, and starring Robyn Malcolm and Peter Mullan. It aired on TVNZ from 29 October 2023.

Otto by Otto is a 2024 Australian documentary film directed by Gracie Otto about her father Barry Otto including his dementia diagnosis.

"Thou shalt not steal" is one of the Ten Commandments of the Jewish Torah / or Christian first five Old Testament of the Bible

Will McDonald is an Australian actor. He is best known for his roles as Douglas 'Ca$h' Piggott on the Netflix comedy drama Heartbreak High, and Jett James on Australian Soap Opera Home and Away.

Sherry-Lee Watson is an Australian actor. She is best known for her roles as Missy on the Netflix comedy drama Heartbreak High, and Robyn on Australian comedy Thou Shalt Not Steal.

References

  1. ↑ "Stan announces new Ludo Studio series Thou Shalt Not Steal for South Australia". South Australian Film Corporation . 30 August 2023.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 Frater, Patrick (13 September 2024). "Dylan River's Toronto Series 'Thou Shalt Not Steal' Explores Australia's Dark History With Humor: 'If You're Preaching to the Converted, How Are You Educating?' (EXCLUSIVE)". Variety.
  3. ↑ Maher, Dani (23 September 2024). "Dylan River, the auteur from Alice". Esquire.
  4. 1 2 3 4 Quinn, Karl (9 October 2024). "Miranda Otto, Noah Taylor, a stolen car and the Outback? It must be the '80s". Sydney Morning Herald .
  5. 1 2 "Cast announced for Stan Original series Thou Shalt Not Steal". South Australian Film Corporation. 14 September 2023.
  6. 1 2 Dare, Laura (8 October 2024). "SA's screen scene is popping! Here's what to watch where". The Post. Retrieved 10 October 2024.
  7. ↑ "Thou Shalt Not Steal". Toronto International Film Festival. 2024.
  8. ↑ Swift, Brendan (12 October 2024). "Event wrap-up: 'Thou Shalt Not Steal' screening in Alice Springs". if.com.au.
  9. 1 2 Douglas, Nicole (2024). "Everything you need to know about the Stan Original Series Thou Shalt Not Steal as first-look trailer is released". nine.com.au. Nine Network.
  10. ↑ "Dylan Rivers on directing Thou Shalt Not Steal". Awaye!. Australian Broadcasting Corporation. 5 October 2024.
  11. 1 2 3 4 Mathieson, Craig (17 October 2024). "Wheels keep on turning as this local crime caper literally heads south". Sydney Morning Herald .
  12. 1 2 3 4 5 Buckmaster, Luke (17 October 2024). "Thou Shalt Not Steal review – this series has future classic written all over it". The Guardian .
  13. 1 2 3 Morris, Anthony (15 October 2024). "Thou Shalt Not Steal, Stan review: an Australian crime romp gem". screenhub.com.au.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.