Lost Things (2003)

A weekend getaway for two couples soon morphs into forty-eight hours of blood-curdling terror in the atmospheric Aussie thriller Lost Things (2003). The protagonists in Martin Murphy’s contemplative film are pleasure-seeking teens in search of sex, sun, and surfing. They travel to a deserted beach to indulge in all three of these vices but quickly realize that something’s amiss. As it turns out, a group of friends died on the very same beach years ago, and the malevolence beneath the sand is getting ready to wreak havoc once again. Murphy uses a disjointed narrative and surrealist flourishes to capture the horror and dread of his protagonists, but the film’s flesh flashes are wonderfully straightforward. Lenka Kripac and Alex Vaughan show no compunction about showing off their bronzed bodies in titillating beachside reveals.