Blackrock (film) - Plot

Plot

Blackrock is set in a fictional Australian beachside working-class suburb called Blackrock (not to be confused with the Melbourne suburb of Black Rock), where surfing is popular among youths like Jared (Laurence Breuls). He has his first serious girlfriend, Rachel (Jessica Napier), who comes from a much wealthier part of the city. One day Ricko (Simon Lyndon), a local surfing legend, returns from an eleven-month odyssey and Jared gives him a 'welcome home' party at the local surf club. Unsupervised and with alcohol freely available. Jared climbs a big rock and sees Toby (Heath Ledger) having consensual sex with Tracey (Bojana Novakovic). He later witnesses three males raping Tracey, yet he does nothing. The rapists leave her crying – but alive, on the beach and Jared too flees the scene and heads home. Later that night Rachel, arriving at the party late and looking for Jared, finds Tracy beaten to death on the beach.

The incident – and the community – are soon being scrutinized by news bulletins across the nation. The locals react differently: The surfers continue their lives as if nothing has happened; Tracy's grieving best friend Cherie (Rebecca Smart) resorts to violent behaviour; Rachel has to face the news that her brother is one of the accused. Jared is torn between the need to reveal what he saw for the sake of justice, and the desire to protect Toby and the other rapists in the name of 'mateship'. His silence eventually leads to the breakdown of his relationships, not only with Rachel, but also with his mother Diane (Linda Cropper), who has recently been diagnosed with breast cancer.

Eventually Ricko confesses to Jared that he killed Tracy, but claims it was an accident – that she hit her head on a rock when he attempted to have sex with her. He asks Jared to back up his story to the police that they were together when the murder happened, despite the fact that Jared has already told the police he was alone at the time. When he goes back to talk to the police, they show him the photos of Tracy's battered body and it's clear that her injuries were not accidental. Jared finds Ricko at the beach and confronts him, and Ricko finally admits the truth. He found Tracy on the beach after the rape and she sought comfort from him and asked him to take her home. He agreed, but wanted to have sex with her first. She tried to fight him off and bit him in the process, which enraged him enough to beat her to death.

As Ricko finishes his confession the police arrive and he realises that Jared has turned him in. He attempts to escape but the police give chase and corner him on a cliff. Rather than go to jail – and ignoring Jared's screams of protest, he jumps to his death. In the weeks that follow, Jared's life collapses – he leaves home (despite finally finding out about his mothers illness and her recent mastectomy), buys Ricko's panel van and takes up residence in a stack of concrete pipes on a vacant block. He eventually confesses his role in the events to his mother, and the film ends with him joining Diane and Cherie in cleaning graffiti from Tracy's grave.