Judy and Punch  ★★★½

DAMON Herriman has hit back after his shafting at the hands of Quentin Tarantino.

The under-rated Australian actor must have been ecstatic when first cast as Charles Manson in QT’s newest film.

But he was conspicuously absent from the final combination of love letter to a by-gone era and three-way bromance between Tarantino, Brad Pitt and Leonardio Di Caprio, that was Once Upon A Time in Hollywood.

If you blinked you would have missed Herriman’s fleeting appearance as the notorious cult leader, due to Tarantino’s film morphing over time into something more aligned with his pursuit of that elusive Best Film Oscar.

Coincidentally we can still see how well Herriman plays the same character courtesy of an episode of the excellent Netflix series Mindhunter.

Herriman also played a key supporting role in the best Australian film of 2019, The Nightingale, and can now be seen giving a terrific lead performance in the period-set, black comedy/drama Judy and Punch.

He plays opposite Mia Wasikowska as married puppeteers with a baby daughter.

It’s the early 19th Century in the fictional town of Seaside in England. While Punch considers himself the star of the show, Judy is the glue that holds everything together.

The show has been more popular and played bigger venues but Punch’s alcoholism leads to regular setbacks.

Punch is forever hopeful that travelling talent scouts will be in the audience one night and return him to his rightful place in the national spotlight.

But he continues to go on benders that also result in sex with other women and conflicts with Judy.

The pressure builds to a shocking act of domestic violence with life-changing repercussions for everyone involved.

This is the first feature film written and directed by Mirrah Foulkes, an actress and the partner of Animal Kingdom Director David Michod.

It’s a very assured debut, engaging throughout thanks to the fine script, great lead performances and interesting location.

I’m not sure of it’s authenticity as an origins story for the famous puppet show, but it also stands alone as a fine example of how comedy and drama can be balanced in the right hands to explire the darkness of addiction, violence and the male/female dynamic.