The Castle

"Ordinary Family. Extraordinary Story."

1997 1h 25m EN

👍

7.1

SOLID

★7.1TMDB · 243

DramaComedy

Synopsis

Spoiler shield

The quirky Kerrigan family lives together in a makeshift home they built themselves – with great pride and a bizarre attention to detail – a few yards from the edge of Melbourne, Australia's busy Tullamarine Airport. When a building inspector condemns the building and reveals that the government plans to use their land for an airport expansion, Darryl Kerrigan and his brood recruit hack attorney Dennis Denuto and prepare themselves for the fight of their lives.

“Ordinary Family. Extraordinary Story.”

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Cast

Michael Caton
Darryl Kerrigan
Anne Tenney
Sal Kerrigan
Stephen Curry
Dale Kerrigan
Anthony Simcoe
Steve Kerrigan
Sophie Lee
Tracy Kerrigan
Wayne Hope
Wayne Kerrigan
Tiriel Mora
Dennis Denuto
Eric Bana
Con Petropoulous

Credits

Behind the camera

Director: Rob Sitch
Writers: Rob Sitch, Santo Cilauro, Tom Gleisner
Languages: English
Countries: Australia

Want more? Switch to Cinephile mode in the header for DP, composer, budget, box office, production companies, keywords, and release history.

Did you know?

Fun facts 🍿

1 / 8

RUNTIME

Did you know

85 minutes exactly — the "classic feature" runtime most directors aim for.

MoodPlayr · trivia#01

2 / 8

MONEY

Did you know

Shot for just $0.8M — micro-budget by Hollywood standards.

MoodPlayr · trivia#02

3 / 8

ERA

Did you know

29 years old — old enough to be someone's favourite childhood film.

MoodPlayr · trivia#03

4 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Directed by Rob Sitch, shot by Miriana Marusic. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.

MoodPlayr · trivia#04

5 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Original score by Craig Harnath. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.

MoodPlayr · trivia#05

6 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Editor Wayne Hyett shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.

MoodPlayr · trivia#06

7 / 8

CAST

Did you know

Michael Caton and Anne Tenney and Stephen Curry carry the top of the cast.

MoodPlayr · trivia#07

8 / 8

FACT

Did you know

Marketing tagline: "Ordinary Family. Extraordinary Story.".

MoodPlayr · trivia#08

Cinephile deep dive

The take

Rob Sitch directs. Miriana Marusic behind the camera. Craig Harnath scores. Wayne Hyett cuts. Runs lean at under 100 minutes. Profitable at the box office. Produced in Australia. Dialogue in English.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

185 minutes exactly — the "classic feature" runtime most directors aim for.
2Shot for just $0.8M — micro-budget by Hollywood standards.
329 years old — old enough to be someone's favourite childhood film.
4Directed by Rob Sitch, shot by Miriana Marusic. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
5Original score by Craig Harnath. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.
6Editor Wayne Hyett shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
7Michael Caton and Anne Tenney and Stephen Curry carry the top of the cast.
8Marketing tagline: "Ordinary Family. Extraordinary Story.".
9IMDB entry: tt0118826 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.
10Classified under 8 themes, including "underdog", "australia", "airport", "court case".