Perhaps the most hubristic part of the human brain is the one that thinks it can control itself against its basest desires. That’s at least the tenuous philosophical premise of The Fox, Dario Russo’s dry, absurdist dark comedy. The Australian writer-director making his feature debut at SXSW 2026 may protest that his film is devoid of a moral story, or so the titular fox (Olivia Colman) seems to argue, but the movie’s core arguments are clear: Man is a fickle beast, no different from any other in the animal kingdom, whose sexual desires are defined by egocentrism.

The Fox is a kooky tale, and it is quite funny for a bit, but it skates by on essentially just one joke for its entire 90 minutes. There’s a pleasurable quality to the flatness of its delivery in contrast with the surreality of its world – kind of like Yorgos Lanthimos’ early work out of Greece – but watching the four pegs of this love square behave in such morally reprehensible ways gets tired pretty quickly. The central gambit of the film reveals itself too quickly, and once it does, The Fox just repeats itself with diminishing results.

The Fox’s Story Doesn’t Ever Live Up To Its Stylistic Strangeness

It isn’t as if Russo’s topsy-turvy premise should exhaust itself, but his world-building in the first act never satisfies in the second and third. The Fox seems to take place in a magical realist world where everyone just accepts that certain animals can talk and are intelligent – either that, or the main characters are so wrapped up in their own messes they don’t stop to pause and consider it. Whatever the case, Russo positions humanity as no more intelligent than any other species, framing the whole film like a Planet Earth episode narrated by Colman’s Fox.

In voiceover, the Fox bemoans the human tendency to pepper life with inane platitudes, the worst among them, according to her, being “it is what it is.” It’s the kind of phrase people throw out to cope with situations over which they have no control; The Fox is certainly filled with the kinds of situations humans think they can control. Namely, forcing a partner to love you without addressing any core issues in the relationship.

Here, in this relatively remote part of Australia, veterinarian Kori (Emily Browning) is stuck between Nick (Jai Courtney) and Derrick (Damon Herriman), the former her derpy fiancé, the latter her self-obsessed coworker, with whom she’s been having a not-so-secret affair. Danny’s wife Diana (Claudia Doumit) is, initially, so self-absorbed and materialistic that she suspects nothing. Nick is so eager to have love in his life that he can’t see the obviousness of Kori’s mounting disinterest.

But one day, while hunting with his father (Frankie J. Holden), Nick comes across the Fox, who begs him not to shoot her in exchange for a sure-fire way to save his doomed relationship. Nick is not shocked that this animal can speak, but is definitely shocked that Kori is unfaithful. The Fox insists this character flaw is fixable if he simply drops her into a nearby magical pit, which has the power to change anyone’s partner into whatever version of them they want.

After Diana uncovers irrefutable proof of her husband’s affair, she and Nick team up to drop Kori in the pit. It’s a mutually beneficial scenario. With Kori “fixed,” the affair ends, and each relationship can go back to “normal.” The absurdity of the plan is only matched by its arrogance. How can you fix something that’s already been thoroughly broken? Predictably, the plan doesn’t totally work – well, it does on the surface. But when Kori re-emerges naked and covered in mud, it’s as if she’s gone through intense electroshock therapy, which has turned her into an obedient, sex-obsessed, childlike fawn.

Things get weirder from there as all four characters adjust to the domino effect of Kori’s wildly different personality, but only just. It’s funny to watch people react in deadpan, Wes Anderson-like manner to things that should elicit mounting incredulity, but the novelty fades fast. The revelations about the animal community – the wiliness of the foxes, the gossip obsession of the magpie (voiced by Sam Neill), the social rejection of the dogs – are tantalizing notions that never quite pan out in reality.

As soon as things start to unravel in The Fox, it’s only a matter of time before each character has their specific form of comeuppance. The film boasts a twee quirkiness in style, but in its narrative, that promise never really comes to fruition. It is, in other words, a much more normal affair than what is promised. In spite of many genuine laughs, that just translates into a disappointing experience.

The Fox screened at the 2026 SXSW Film & TV Festival.