This is a film about the man who killed 35 people and wounded 23 others at Port Arthur in 1996 – but it also isn’t. Its main character isn’t named, nor are the shootings ever shown, but that hasn’t stopped the film from being condemned as disrespectful to the victims. Fortunately, just as many argue that cinema should challenge and provoke, in the same way films about the Holocaust and other atrocities have shed light on humanity’s darkest moments.

Director Justin Kurzel (Snowtown) is no stranger to controversy, and the film offers no easy answers. Instead, Kurzel paints a harrowing, potent portrait of a bullied young man (Caleb Landry Jones), whose parents (Judy Davis, Anthony LaPaglia) don’t know what to do with him, and whose sole friendship is with a lonely heiress (Essie Davis). Nitram was the most awarded Australian film last year, winning eight AACTAs, including Best Film and all acting honours. See it and decide for yourself.