# Wrong World

Wrong World is a 1985 Australian drama film directed by Ian Pringle and starring Richard Moir, Jo Kennedy, Nick Lathouris, Robbie McGregor, and Esben Storm. It was filmed in Nhill and Melbourne in Victoria, Australia, with additional scenes in La Paz, Bolivia and New York City.

## Plot

David (Richard Moir) is an Australian graduate doctor who has recently become disillusioned after practicing medicine in Bolivia and then travelling through the United States. Returning to his hometown of Melbourne, he meets Mary (Jo Kennedy), a young woman with a heroin addiction. Together, they set out on a road trip to her sister's house in Nhill.

## Cast

* Richard Moir as David Trueman
* Jo Kennedy as Mary
* Nick Lathouris as Rangott
* Robbie McGregor as Robert
* Esben Storm as Lawrence
* Tim Robertson as Psychiatrist

## Production

The film was made for $600,000 with a grant of more than $100,000 from Film Victoria. Jo Kennedy was drawn to the project as it was completely different from her breakout role in Starstruck. To prepare for the role, she spent several weeks on the streets of Melbourne's "drug district" and as a result her weight dropped to 38 kilograms. She later told the media she had approached the role hoping to humanise drug users in the eyes of the viewing public:
   People look at those kids and all they see is frenetic energy, drugs and a pretty disgusting lifestyle. I wanted to make sure people see that a girl like that is a real person, that she has the same feelings as, say, a business executive, but because of circumstances she's in a position which doesn't allow much consideration for those feelings... I didn't want people to say, 'Wow, isn't Jo Kennedy great?' I wanted them to say, 'Shit, that girl looks like she's getting a pretty unfair deal'.
The young woman on whom Kennedy based her performance died of an overdose during the film's production.

## Reception and awards

At the 1985 AFI Awards, Ray Argall was nominated in the Best Achievement in Cinematography category but Kennedy was not nominated for her performance. However, later that year, she won the Silver Bear for Best Actress at the 35th Berlin International Film Festival while Ian Pringle was nominated for a Golden Bear. Kennedy, who was not even aware she had been nominated, described a "backlash" among the Australian film industry in the aftermath of this award, telling The Sydney Morning Herald that "people (became) defensive... 'Here comes Jo Kennedy, big star. Show us what you can do.'" One Melbourne radio station called her early in the morning, asked her "bloody stupid things like 'Jo, are you in love?'", then published the resulting conversation as an "interview" in a magazine. She also mentioned that various people in the Canadian film industry told her she looked "ugly" in the film.
Pringle struggled to find a distributor in Australia. It was only in the aftermath of the film's international awards that he was able to distribute the film locally himself with a grant from the AFC. Wrong World ultimately grossed $17,213 at the box office in Australia. Producer Bryce Menzies commented that in his opinion, "if the voices were substituted... if it was an American or German film, people would (have flocked) to it."

## Home video release

Wrong World was not released on VHS or DVD. It was aired on Australian television for the first time one morning in January 1997 on the Nine Network at 2:40am. In the 2020s it became available on video on demand and streaming services, including Tubi in the US and Brollie in Australia.