{"id":27189,"date":"2023-10-08T01:29:44","date_gmt":"2023-10-08T08:29:44","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.cinemastance.com\/?p=27189"},"modified":"2023-10-08T01:29:44","modified_gmt":"2023-10-08T08:29:44","slug":"last-stop-larrimah-presents-a-fascinating-australian-outback-mystery","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/?p=27189","title":{"rendered":"LAST STOP LARRIMAH Presents a Fascinating Australian Outback Mystery"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Running Time: 117 minutes<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This HBO Original documentary debuts October 8th at 9:00\nPM ET\/PT on HBO and will be available to stream on Max. <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

We\u2019ve all seen or clicked past true crime documentaries like\nDateline<\/em>, which detail unusual murders and veer through a list of\nsuspects before focusing in on the killer. The HBO Original documentary Last\nStop Larrimah<\/em> certainly contains elements of these shows, but definitely\nstands out as something quite unique. For one, the Australian desert locale is\nremote and visually striking. But perhaps most importantly, the gossipy\nresidents interviewed are so outlandish that if this were a narrative feature,\nmost would call them unbelievable. It all creates an intriguing, compelling\nmystery that engages throughout.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Larrimah is a tiny town five hours drive south of Darwin in the Northern Territory outback. Once home to an army base and a railway stop, the story begins with the village having a population of 11 persons. Well, 10 after the disappearance of 70-year-old Paddy Moriarty, an Irish immigrant who disappeared along with his dog on December 16th<\/sup>, 2017. While initially described as well-liked, the movie reveals that there were major feuds and threats of death brewing between all of the residents. Could Paddy have had a medical issue and have wandered out into the brush with his dog in a disoriented state? Before long, it is made clear that the cause behind him vanishing was likely sinister.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The documentarians are granted complete access to almost all\nof the suspects, who are more than happy to discuss their relationship with\nPaddy and what might have occurred to him. All these individuals are great\ninterviews and a large part of why the movie is so compelling. They make biting\ncomments about Paddy and detectives working the scene, while many also dish out\nwild rumors and throw each other under the bus.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The darkly humorous tone creates plenty of intrigue as it raises questions. Could it have been an unusual local who spends his days collecting cans? A neighbor\/enemy and meat pie shop owner, her ex-husband (who resides next door just to irritate the woman), or even her oddball gardener? Another major suspect is the nearby hotel\/bar owner and his pet crocodile, along with a hard-drinking bartender? Not to mention local Fire Brigade volunteers who believe their daughter\u2019s livelihood was burned to the ground years earlier?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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None of these individuals are young and the stories they\ntell are quite remarkable in showing the slow dissolution of the town.\nListening to them, one can\u2019t help but think that the petty and bitter squabbles\nbetween the residents may have exacerbated the demise of the region. Curiously,\nas the never-ending investigation continues, the film makes clear that not\nhaving answers as to what happened is an incredibly heavy weight to bear (as is\nbeing a murder suspect in an unsolved case). And the passing years and illness\ndoes cause one or two to make a change and\/or assess their life choices,\nadmitting that their neighbors are, in a strange way, family.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The town\u2019s unusual spots are characters in themselves,\nparticularly the bar that is home to a large crocodile (remarkably, it is\nrevealed that the owner has a connection to famed Australian zookeeper Steve\nIrwin). For those wondering if an answer to the mystery is delivered, the movie\nclimaxes with an audio recording that gives a convincing argument as to who the\nresponsible party was. And despite the grimness to the story, the denouement\nalso effectively tries to show a glimmer of hope for the future of the tiny\ntown.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The setting is strangely beautiful, the history of the small\ntown is fascinating and the residents are compelling in their peculiarities. It\nall makes Last Stop Larrimah<\/em> a wildly intriguing and memorable true\ncrime documentary that makes a lasting impression.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Running Time: 117 minutes This HBO Original documentary debuts October 8th at 9:00 PM ET\/PT on HBO and will be available to stream on Max.  We\u2019ve all seen or clicked past true crime documentaries like Dateline, which detail unusual murders and veer through a list of suspects before focusing in on the killer. The HBO […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":27194,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[213,2056,2058,5993,8961,8962,12112,13466,14399,14523,15635,23314],"class_list":["post-27189","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-movie-reviews","tag-213","tag-australia","tag-australian-outback","tag-documentary","tag-hbo-original","tag-hbo-original-documentary","tag-last-stop-larrimah","tag-max","tag-murder","tag-mystery","tag-paddy-moriarty","tag-true-crime"],"blocksy_meta":{"styles_descriptor":{"styles":{"desktop":"","tablet":"","mobile":""},"google_fonts":[],"version":8}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27189","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=27189"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27189\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=27189"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=27189"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=27189"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}