Blackrock

A Phoenix pick

Set in a picturesque Australian coastal town, Blackrock opens with a creepy, Jaws-eye view of surfers paddling out to sea. It's a fitting image, for though there's no shark, there is something decidedly nasty lurking beneath the surface of Blackrock's community of rollicking surf-monkeys.

When maverick superdude Ricko (Simon Lyndon) returns to town after a long absence, his best friend Jared (Laurence Breuls) decides to throw a welcome-home rave at a local surf club. For these id-intoxicated kids, though, raving is already a full-time occupation. There's something unsettling about their spastic energy, and it's no surprise when things get ugly.

By the party's end, a 15-year old girl has been raped and murdered, and the town has been thrown into a storm of anxiety and suspicion, gender conflict, and carnivorous media attention. What follows is a hyper-realist version of River's Edge, as the feckless Jared -- who knows more than he's letting on -- struggles with the conflicting urges of common decency and peer loyalty.

Even with its slightly over-the-top dénouement, Blackrock is a believable, touching teen drama. It's also a gripping thriller -- a kind of Beach Blanket Psycho. Oh those crazy kids. Screens at the Copley Place Thursday at 6:05, 7:45, and 9:35 p.m. and Friday at 10 and 11:45 a.m. and 1:40 and 3:40 p.m.

-- Chris Wright

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