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Nitram is a 2021 biographical psychological drama film directed by Justin Kurzel from a screenplay by Shaun Grant. The film revolves around the life and behaviors of a mentally distressed young man called "Nitram" (based on Martin Bryant), and the events leading to his involvement in the 1996 Port Arthur massacre in Tasmania. The film stars Caleb Landry Jones, Judy Davis, Essie Davis, and Anthony LaPaglia.
Nitram premiered at the Cannes Film Festival on 16 July 2021, where Jones won the Best Actor award for his performance. The film received a limited theatrical release in Australia on 30 September 2021, before a digital release on the Australian streaming service Stan on 24 November 2021. It received widespread critical acclaim for Kurzel's direction and the cast's performances (particularly Jones and Judy Davis), although the film sparked controversy in Tasmania. The film later received eight awards at the 11th AACTA Awards, including Best Film, Best Direction, Best Actor, Best Actress, Best Supporting Actor, Best Supporting Actress, and Best Original Screenplay.
Nitram is an intellectually disabled young adult who lives with his parents in Tasmania. He regularly sets off fireworks, which upsets the neighbours, and sells his fireworks to schoolchildren. His father has recently been approved for a business loan with which he hopes to buy a bed and breakfast that Nitram will help run. Nitram begs his mother to buy him a surfboard after seeing an attractive woman with a surfer, but she is exasperated and refuses.
Nitram starts mowing lawns to make money. In the process, he meets a neighbour named Helen, a retired actress and heiress, who offers to pay him to walk her dogs. The two quickly become friends, and Helen buys him a car, despite Nitram not having a driver's licence and exhibiting a dangerous habit of grabbing the steering wheel when the two are driving.
Nitram becomes increasingly frustrated with life at home and tells his parents he is moving in with Helen, who permits him to stay in a spare room but insists that he get rid of his Air gun as it upsets her. On his next birthday, Nitram introduces Helen to his parents; his mother tells Helen an anecdote about a young Nitram taking pleasure in the pain he caused her after pretending to be lost.
Despite having the funds for the bed and breakfast, Nitram's father's offer is rejected when another couple makes a higher offer, and he becomes despondent. Nitram asks Helen if the two can visit Hollywood, Los Angeles, but on the drive to the airport the next day he once again lunges for the steering wheel, resulting in a devastating car crash that kills Helen and severely injures him. When questioned by police, Nitram lies that he was asleep at the time of the crash.
Nitram, having inherited Helen's decaying mansion and over half a million dollars, starts to drink heavily. His mother asks him to help his father, who is severely depressed. Nitram then desperately attempts to buy the bed and breakfast, but the new owners flatly refuse. Several days later, his father's body is found in a nearby river after an apparent suicide. After he shows up to his father's funeral dressed in an electric blue suit and hat, Nitram's mother refuses to let him attend, fearing he will embarrass her. The increasingly isolated Nitram begins to take frequent overseas vacations by himself and practises shooting with his air rifle.
While watching the news one night, Nitram sees a report about the Dunblane massacre. He then becomes obsessed with guns, purchasing an unlicensed Colt AR-15 and shotgun and ordering a handgun. One day, he drives to the bed and breakfast his father wanted to buy and shoots the owners in an act of revenge, then drives to the café where Helen and his parents celebrated his birthday. After ordering food, he sets up a video camera, retrieves a rifle from his sports bag and opens fire on the tourists. At her home, Nitram's mother smokes, while the news report of the massacre played in the background.
It received a limited theatrical release in Australia by Madman Films on 30 September 2021. It was later released digitally on the Australian streaming service Stan on 24 November 2021.
Donald Clarke of The Irish Times wrote a glowing review of the film, "Respectful in its treatment of the final carnage, psychologically nuanced without offering the perpetrator an ounce of sympathy, Nitram is a character study of the highest order." In NPR, Justin Chang praised the film, saying, "the movie avoids reducing them to a kind of climactic spectacle — a compassionate gesture at the end of this tense and despairing movie." In The Globe and Mail, critic Amil Niazi, wrote "It is the kind of work that presses on a nerve, begging you to stand up or tune out, but compelling you forward nonetheless – with its haunting portrayal." Similarly, writing for The Guardian, Luke Buckmaster praised the film, stating, "Another extraordinary achievement from Kurzel, who has a penchant for evoking gut-sinking emotional atmosphere."
The production company invited arts minister Elise Archer to meet, but she declined. Screen Tasmania declined to fund the film. The then-Premier of Tasmania, Peter Gutwein, stated to the House of Assembly that it made him uncomfortable. Other state politicians including Brian Mitchell, federal member for Lyons, and Rebecca White, Leader of the Opposition, expressed concern.
| AACTA Awards | 8 December 2021 | Best Film | Nick Batzias, Shaun Grant, Virginia Whitwell and Justin Kurzel | ||
| Best Direction | Justin Kurzel | ||||
| Best Original Screenplay | Shaun Grant | ||||
| Best Actor | Caleb Landry Jones | ||||
| Best Actress | Judy Davis | ||||
| Best Supporting Actor | Anthony LaPaglia | ||||
| Best Supporting Actress | Essie Davis | ||||
| Best Cinematography | Germain McMicking | ||||
| Best Editing | Nick Fenton | ||||
| Best Original Music Score | Jed Kurzel | ||||
| Best Sound | James Ashton, Dean Ryan and Steve Single | ||||
| Best Production Design | Alice Babidge | ||||
| Best Costume Design | |||||
| Best Hair and Makeup | Fiona Rees-Jones | ||||
| Best Casting | Nikki Barrett, Kate Leonard and Alison Telford | ||||
| AACTA International Awards | 26 January 2022 | Best Film | Nitram | ||
| Best Direction | Justin Kurzel | ||||
| Best Screenplay | Shaun Grant | ||||
| Best Actor | Caleb Landry Jones | ||||
| AWGIE Awards | 7 December 2021 | Best Screenplay, Feature Film – Original | Shaun Grant | ||
| Cannes Film Festival | 6–17 July 2021 | Palme d'Or | Justin Kurzel | ||
| Best Actor | Caleb Landry Jones | ||||
| CinefestOZ | August 2021 | Film Prize | Nitram | ||
| NSW Premier's Literary Awards | 16 May 2022 | Best Script | Shaun Grant | ||
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