WRITER/director Sue Brooks, whose filmography may be short but is undeniably choice, turns out films at six-year intervals.

Between her most impressive (in my humble opinion) film “Japanese Story” (2003) and this gentle, unhurried, observant tragic comedy played out in a family not overburdened by brains, only “Subdivision” (2009) intervenes.

Extended tracking shots using a camera carried on a drone admire WA’s flatland wheatbelt, where communities are few and life should be relatively uncomplicated. But for Denise (Radha Mitchell) and Dan (Richard Roxburgh), it suddenly and uncomfortably turns pear-shaped when their adolescent daughter Grace (Odessa Young) goes missing, along with money from the family’s safe.

Denise and Dan engage retired enquiry agent Tom (Terry Norris) to help them find Grace. Brooks’ screenplay moves this quartet of principal characters around in time and space, observing particular moments from a variety of angles and dramatic points of view, often wonderfully comical. Its passages just getting on with getting on are intelligent. The dramatic low points are agreeable. The high points may be sparse but their messages resonate beyond their immediate moments.

The supporting cast is great. In Dan’s furniture store, the office assistant (Amanda Woodhams) is spectacular. The sales assistant (Tasma Walton) is a temptation to infidelity; she and Dan share a deliciously comic sequence of unfulfilled lust.

The drama offers surprises that please and surprises that distress. Happy ending? Satisfying conclusion? Depends on what you expect.

Final impression? The huge beauty of the Australian landscape is awesome.

At Palace Electric