In partnership with Badlands

There is something special about purchasing a ticket at your go-to cinema, finding your usual spot – the middle back is always the sweet spot – and watching the lights flicker down. From the opening scene, you think you have the story down pat. Until, piece by piece, you realise you've had it all wrong.

It's films like The Birthday Trip that remind us of this magic – the ability to transform a story into a complex web of multiple narratives converging into one. The new Australian independent film is the feature directorial debut of writer-director James Robert Woods. The story follows three upper class millennial couples who escape to the Southern Highlands for a luxurious farmstay. Gathering to celebrate a joint birthday, the idyllic weekend quickly takes an ugly turn, that ends up being the perfect encapsulation of the contradictions of modern life. It follows a tale as old as time – that no amount of wealth or luxury can protect the bourgeoisie from deep jealousy and resentment. In The Birthday Trip, this tension is calculated and executed so seamlessly that the idealised topic of wealth becomes secondary to the real hook. As an audience, you're watching as these characters' carefully-constructed identities begin to crack. The suspense is deeply psychological, keeping you on the edge of your seat to see which version of these characters' will survive when the facade finally comes down.

A massive part of this execution lies in the characters' rich inner lives. Nicola Frew stars as Clare Lapsley-Smith, a persecuted painter locked in a dysfunctional relationship with her husband Jim, played by David Quirk. Despite joining the project just a week before production began, Frew knew exactly how to navigate the script's intricate ensemble dynamics alongside co-stars Luke Jacobz, Annelise Hall, and Ben Gerrard to help the cast move as a single, fluid organism. And while Frew has previously appeared in feature films such as I Am Woman and The Daughter, The Birthday Trip marks her first leading role – and it is one that leaves us eager to see her in more. Drawn to the nuance of the script, Frew delivers a compelling performance that's rooted in secrets, silence, and social satire balanced with prestige drama.

Ahead of the film’s release on 30 July, we spoke with Nicola Frew about taking on the role of Clare, building her character's inner life, and the fascinating behavioural quirks she observed while on set. To find tickets and a screening near you, head to The Birthday Trip official website.

What was it about The Birthday Trip script that immediately drew you in?

I liked that there were so many unanswered questions for Clare. She’s in an unhappy relationship but it's never revealed why she stays. I like characters' with secrets, because we all have things we don’t want anyone to know, and the things we do to hide that secret says so much about who we are. I felt like there was a lot of space to discover who she was and that was interesting to me. I also like playing people who have a very different self perception to how they come off – it can be very funny, but can also be jarring, but it's a very fun place to play in.

This is your first leading feature film role. Did playing Clare feel instinctive, or did she challenge you in new ways as an actor?

Luckily, I came onto the project about a week before we shot so I didn’t have time to think. I love working through behaviour and instinct over thought. I read Clare to be almost like a ghost in her own skin and I knew what that felt like, so I just leant into that. I love playing in what is unsaid in a story, and there was a lot of that in this. I recently made a queer romance film and writing that I reflected on how there are always two stories happening at once – the one the characters' have the courage to talk about and the one they don’t. I think making this film really helped me understand that.

Social gatherings often reveal a bit about a person. What was the most interesting thing you learned about people by observing them throughout this film?

I find that people will always find a role in a group dynamic. I love silent films, particularly silent comics, like actor Buster Keaton, for that reason. The moments before he launches into a stunt he’s often watching everything around him, to try and work out how to pull it off, and those moments of confusion and curiosity, as he analyses what's happening are so relatable. It's a feeling of ‘how will I make this work’, or ‘who will I be in this interaction’, and I think we do that in life. I feel like people sit back and observe, and then when they find a way to contribute, they’ll step into that role. Watching the film back for the first time, it was the micro expressions where you see the characters’ vulnerability that are my favourite parts of the film.

As an actor, how do you build a character's inner life when so much of the story is happening beneath the surface?

I always find what breaks my heart the most is when someone is trying to hold back their pain. Watching people try to mask it, or push it down, or deny it, or do anything to not let it be so, can be so hard to watch. I remember seeing Isabelle Huppert’s performance in The Piano Teacher and I felt blown open by what she did. I felt that she didn’t show anything that the character was going through, but just sat on this immense grief and longing, spending the whole film trying not to show it. In playing Clare, I wanted to find her most potent secret, the thing that she doesn’t want anyone to know, and I spent my scenes trying to make sure it never came out.

Cinema has long been a powerful medium through which to examine class, power and identity. How does The Birthday Trip tap into this conversation satirically?

I love filmmakers like Armando Iannucci, and the way he sets up relationship dynamics that perfectly fit together to create total dysfunction. It’s so fun to watch people’s foolishness when it works together so fluidly, like a dance. So when I read The Birthday Trip and realised that there were big ensemble scenes, I felt excited to work out how we were going to work as one organism. We had these long shots, which James explained that he wanted to use from the beginning, and it was great because that gave us so much freedom to play those dynamics out in micro moments and in unexpected ways.

Independent films often leave more room for experimentation. Were there any moments where you found something unexpected in your performance or the story?

I love that about independent cinema! You have the space to discover your character as you live in their skin. On this shoot, early on, I had a feeling of keeping Clare busy in scenes, especially in scenes with Jim. There are quite a few scenes where she's quiet which I always find interesting because to stay quiet is a choice. I chose to paint her nails, smoke, drink, arrange flowers – it felt like someone trying to keep feelings down. There was this feeling that she was in the room, but also completely absent.

Finally, what do you hope audiences are still thinking about after the credits roll on The Birthday Trip?

I think Rob Preston’s performance in The Birthday Trip is remarkable. He plays the mask of the character, and simultaneously, the face behind it. It's as though you can feel two realities humming against each other and it was so haunting to watch. I remember his first take on set gave me goosebumps. For me it speaks to all that we haven't acknowledged in Australia, and the day to day feeling of living on colonised land.

PHOTOGRAPHY Jack Mannix

TALENT Nicola Frew

CREATIVE DIRECTOR Stephanie Jane Day

STYLIST Olivia Simpson

HAIR AND MAKEUP Deborah Munday

STYLIST ASSISTANT Kris Brujic

HAIR AND MAKEUP ASSISTANT Juliette Flanagan

PRODUCER by Gus McGrath

PRODUCTION Max Enright, Katie Diggins, Kelly Wong