In this darkly comic folktale, an affable foxhunter encounters a talking Fox who offers him an opportunity to transform his fiancée into the perfect woman.
There are films that arrive with grand ambitions, attempting to deliver something profound, thought-provoking or emotionally devastating. Then there are films like The Fox, which seem perfectly happy to throw a bunch of quirky characters, ridiculous situations and questionable decision-making into the mix and simply ask you to enjoy the ride. And honestly? Sometimes that's exactly what you need.
The Fox is fun, quirky and possesses a wonderfully dumb energy that makes it difficult not to enjoy. It's not the sort of film that's going to have you sitting in the cinema pondering the deeper meaning of life afterwards, nor is it particularly interested in being the cleverest film in the room. Instead, it embraces its own absurdity, delivers its jokes with confidence and keeps things moving at a pace that makes its roughly 90-minute runtime fly by. There's an almost refreshing simplicity to its approach, even when the situations themselves are anything but simple. It knows that sometimes the best entertainment comes from watching a bunch of characters make increasingly questionable decisions and seeing just how ridiculous things can get.
At the centre of it all is Jai Courtney, who delivers a great performance as a fairly generic, gullible Australian farmer and hunter. Courtney is perfectly cast in the role, bringing just the right amount of lovable stupidity and sincerity to a character who seems to be operating with a rather limited number of brain cells. There's something wonderfully fitting about watching him stumble through the film's increasingly ridiculous circumstances while maintaining the confidence of a man who genuinely believes he knows what he's doing. He's not exactly the sharpest tool in the shed, but that's very much part of the appeal, and Courtney understands precisely how to play that without turning the character into an entirely unbearable idiot.
I've always enjoyed Courtney, particularly his turn as Captain Boomerang in Suicide Squad, and The Fox feels like another example of him being put in a role that suits his strengths. He's got the physical presence, the comedic timing and that distinctly Australian flavour that helps sell the character. There's also a certain earnestness to his performance that makes the farmer's questionable judgement all the more entertaining. It's great casting, and he makes the farmer an entertaining centrepiece for the film's nonsense.
Emily Browning, meanwhile, plays his wife-to-be and does a solid job navigating the rather unusual circumstances her character finds herself in. There's a particularly bizarre element to her character's journey that gives Browning plenty of room to have fun with the role, and she handles the film's increasingly peculiar developments rather well. Without getting too deep into spoiler territory, there's a noticeable shift in the character that becomes an important part of the film's comedic appeal. It's a ridiculous concept on paper, but Browning sells it well enough that the whole bizarre premise remains entertaining rather than completely falling apart.
What I particularly appreciated was the contrast between Courtney and Browning. They bring quite different energies to their respective roles, which helps give their relationship a bit more personality than you might initially expect. Their interactions also provide plenty of opportunities for the film's humour, particularly as the story starts leaning further into its stranger ideas. Browning is more than capable of holding her own, and the pairing works nicely without either performance feeling out of place.
The comedy itself is another one of the film's strengths. Don't go expecting a screenplay packed with razor-sharp wit, clever wordplay or jokes that require a second viewing to fully appreciate. The Fox isn't trying to be that sort of comedy. The humour is straightforward, occasionally dumb, and often relies on the sheer absurdity of the situations unfolding on screen. There's a deliberately old-fashioned quality to some of the comedy, where the joke isn't necessarily particularly complicated, but the commitment to the ridiculousness is what makes it funny. But here's the thing: the jokes are lined up nicely.
The comedic timing is consistently good, and the pacing does a lot of the heavy lifting. There's a rhythm to the film that keeps the laughs coming, with scenes rarely overstaying their welcome. Even when a joke isn't particularly clever in isolation, the delivery and timing often make it land. It's the sort of comedy where you can appreciate the setup, enjoy the payoff and move on without feeling the need to dissect it. The film also does a good job of allowing its more ridiculous moments to breathe, rather than constantly throwing jokes at the audience in an attempt to squeeze a laugh out of every second. And sometimes, that's a refreshing change of pace.
The film's biggest achievement is arguably its willingness to embrace the ridiculousness of its premise without constantly winking at the audience. It knows what sort of film it is, and it sticks to its guns. There's no desperate attempt to elevate the material into something more sophisticated than it needs to be. It simply gets on with the job of entertaining. That doesn't mean there isn't anything beneath the surface, though. There are some interesting ideas tucked away within the comedy, particularly around relationships, expectations and the rather questionable human desire to have things exactly the way we want them. The film touches on these ideas without becoming overly preachy or allowing them to dominate what is ultimately a very silly experience.
Of course, the real highlight for me comes when the film brings everything full circle. Without giving anything away, there's a particularly entertaining payoff to the increasingly bizarre chain of events that makes the journey worthwhile. It's the sort of comedic development that could easily fall flat in a lesser film, but here it fits perfectly with the story's established tone and the wonderfully questionable logic of its central character. What follows is exactly the sort of absurdity that makes The Fox such an enjoyable experience, and the way things eventually come together provides one of the film's funniest and most satisfying moments. There's something genuinely entertaining about watching a film commit so wholeheartedly to an idea that has absolutely no business being taken seriously.
It's the kind of payoff that perfectly encapsulates the movie's overall attitude: don't overthink it, just enjoy the absurdity.
Visually and tonally, the film manages to maintain its quirky atmosphere throughout. It doesn't feel like it's desperately trying to be edgy or outrageous for the sake of it. Instead, it finds its own strange little groove and stays there. The rural Australian setting helps give the film a distinct personality, while the slightly offbeat atmosphere complements the increasingly unusual nature of the story. The characters are broad, the situations are bizarre, and the humour is often as subtle as a shovel to the face, but there's a certain charm to the whole package.
There's also something to be said for the film's willingness to look and feel a little different. It doesn't have the overly polished, generic appearance that can sometimes make smaller comedies feel interchangeable. There's a particular oddness to its world that suits the material, and it helps establish the sort of atmosphere where you can accept things getting progressively stranger without questioning every little detail. The film asks you to buy into its peculiar universe, and once you're on board, it's a reasonably easy ride.
The performances help enormously. Courtney and Browning make for an entertaining pairing, and their respective character journeys provide much of the film's comedic fuel. The supporting cast also adds plenty of personality to the proceedings, helping flesh out the little world that surrounds the central characters. There's a nice collection of eccentric personalities here, and while the film doesn't need to spend too much time developing every supporting character, they contribute to the general sense that absolutely nobody in this particular world is operating entirely normally. The supporting elements of the story all seem to serve the same purpose: keep the ridiculousness moving forward and give the audience another reason to laugh.
At around 90 minutes, The Fox also benefits from knowing when to call it a day. There's no needlessly extended third act or drawn-out conclusion. It gets in, delivers its quirky brand of comedy, brings things full circle and leaves you with a smile. The pacing is one of its more underrated strengths, because a film built around such an unusual premise could easily wear out its welcome if it dragged things along for too long. Thankfully, it doesn't. It gets to the point, has its fun and doesn't feel the need to overstay its welcome.
Is it a masterpiece? Absolutely not. Is it particularly witty? Not really. Does it have moments where the sheer dumbness of what's happening is part of the appeal? Most definitely. But that's precisely why I enjoyed it.
The Fox is a film that understands its own limitations and turns them into strengths. It's fun, quirky, silly and occasionally downright ridiculous. Jai Courtney is great casting as the gullible Aussie farmer, Emily Browning handles her character's unusual journey well, and the comedic timing keeps the whole thing ticking along nicely. The film's strange premise gives it plenty of room to play around, and while not every joke is going to land with everyone, there's enough entertainment here to make the experience worthwhile. The full-circle payoff is the icing on the cake, delivering a conclusion that's both absurd and perfectly suited to the film's tone without needing to take itself remotely seriously.
Sometimes a movie doesn't need to reinvent the wheel, deliver a profound message or make you question your existence. Sometimes it just needs to be entertaining for 90 minutes. And The Fox does exactly that.
It is what it is. And in this case, that's a compliment.
The Fox is in NZ cinemas from November 26, 2026. Find your nearest screening here
Review written by Jack Kemp
Edited by Alex Moulton
