That's one man's opinion, unfortunately. But Australia and the United States have similar histories and similar views of the world. The story always starts before the movie begins and ends after, and it obviously includes materials that the author or screenwriter alludes to in the plot and the movie viewer adds to the movie. If you see a man in the midst of a busy day, for example, you assume the rest of the day was at least similar to the two or three minutes presented to you as an example. But we have a way of personifying animals, deities, land, devils, and so on and making them causal agents.
Some movies have a narrator, who is also frequently the central character.
We make the assumption that the narrator is telling us the truth. The assumption is faulty. Sometimes the most important material because the viewer must figure it out and add it from his or her intelligence or knowledge. Characters are a collection of traits, of course, and these traits can and must be given to the viewer through the plot. Most movies do.