Lantana

Lantana (2001) is an Australian crime drama directed by Ray Lawrence — watch it online on iFILM. Anthony LaPaglia plays Detective Leon Zat, a man dissatisfied with his marriage and quietly sleeping with someone else, whose job suddenly lands him in the middle of a missing person case tied directly to his own therapist's circle. The body found in the lantana bushes belongs to a woman every person in the story has reason to lie about.

The missing woman is Valerie Somers (Barbara Hershey), a psychiatrist whose husband John (Geoffrey Rush) is still raw from the death of their daughter and concealing something that will matter enormously before the film is done. Four couples intersect — each carrying secrets the others don't know — and Lawrence lets the tension build slowly, trusting the audience to keep track without a scoreboard.

LaPaglia took the Golden Globe for his performance here. The film also picked up five Australian Film Institute awards including best film and best direction. Lantana is the kind of thriller where guilt is less interesting than what the surrounding people reveal about themselves once the pressure is on. Stream Lantana (2001) on iFILM.