Every country’s cinema has a canon, the films that define what its national industry has achieved and aspired to. Australia’s canon is richer than most people realise, even many Australians. Here are ten essential films that I think represent the breadth, ambition, and distinctive character of Australian cinema. This isn’t a “greatest of all time” list. It’s a “start here” list for anyone who wants to understand what makes Australian film unique.

1. Picnic at Hanging Rock (1975)

Peter Weir’s masterpiece of atmosphere and ambiguity. The story of schoolgirls disappearing during a Valentine’s Day outing is technically a mystery, but the film is more interested in mood than resolution. It established the visual vocabulary that many Australian films still draw on: the landscape as a character, the tension between civilisation and the vast, indifferent natural world. If you haven’t seen it, everything else on this list will make more sense after you do.

2. Walkabout (1971)

Nicolas Roeg directed this, but it’s profoundly Australian in its themes and setting. Two suburban children stranded in the outback are guided by an Aboriginal boy on his walkabout. The film is visually stunning and thematically complex, dealing with cultural collision, survival, and the gap between different ways of knowing the land. David Gulpilil’s performance is extraordinary.

3. Lantana (2001)

Ray Lawrence’s suburban noir is a masterclass in ensemble storytelling. Set in Sydney, it follows interconnected lives as they unravel around a possible crime. What makes it remarkable is how precisely it captures the texture of contemporary Australian life: the accents, the architecture, the social dynamics, and the quiet desperation beneath middle-class respectability. Kerry Armstrong and Anthony LaPaglia give career-defining performances.

4. Samson and Delilah (2009)

Warwick Thornton’s debut feature is one of the most important Australian films of the 21st century. A love story set in a remote Central Australian community, it’s unflinching about the realities of marginalisation while maintaining a profound tenderness for its characters. It won the Camera d’Or at Cannes and signalled a new era for Indigenous Australian cinema.

5. Animal Kingdom (2010)

David Michod’s crime drama about a Melbourne crime family is tense, morally complex, and superbly acted. Jacki Weaver’s Oscar-nominated performance as the matriarch is iconic, but the entire ensemble is outstanding. The film captures something specific about Melbourne’s underworld mythology while telling a universal story about family, loyalty, and survival.

6. The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert (1994)

Stephan Elliott’s road movie about two drag queens and a transgender woman driving across the outback is joyous, funny, and more emotionally resonant than its camp reputation might suggest. It’s a film about identity, belonging, and the unlikely places you find acceptance. Terence Stamp’s performance is beautiful.

7. Strictly Ballroom (1992)

Baz Luhrmann’s debut is a film of pure exuberance. Set in the competitive ballroom dancing world of suburban Sydney, it’s a love story, a comedy, and a satire of conformity. The visual style is heightened and theatrical, which became Luhrmann’s signature. It’s impossible to watch without smiling, and beneath the glitter is a genuine story about the courage to be yourself.

8. Snowtown (2011)

Justin Kurzel’s debut is difficult, disturbing, and absolutely brilliant. Based on the bodies-in-the-barrels murders in suburban Adelaide, it examines how a predatory charismatic personality can infiltrate and destroy a vulnerable community. It’s not entertainment in any conventional sense. It’s cinema as social forensics. Daniel Henshall’s performance is terrifying.

9. Sweet Country (2017)

Warwick Thornton’s second feature on this list, set in 1920s Central Australia, tells the story of an Aboriginal stockman who kills a white station owner in self-defence and goes on the run. The film is formally stunning, with Thornton’s characteristic visual poetry applied to a Western framework. It’s a film about justice, race, and the foundational violence of colonial Australia.

10. Talk to Me (2023)

The Philippou brothers’ horror debut belongs on this list because it represents something new in Australian cinema. Made by YouTubers-turned-filmmakers, it proved that Australian genre cinema can compete globally, achieving massive commercial success and critical acclaim. The film itself is genuinely scary, thematically resonant, and technically accomplished. It’s the film that redefined what Australian cinema could achieve commercially.

Notable Absences

Any list of ten is going to leave out essential films. I haven’t included Mad Max, The Year My Voice Broke, The Castle, Rabbit-Proof Fence, Romper Stomper, Muriel’s Wedding, Babadook, or a dozen other films that could justifiably be here. This is a starting point, not a definitive statement.

Start with these ten. Then keep going. Australian cinema rewards exploration.