Backroads

Backroads

1977 · 61 min · ★ 6.3 · Action, Drama

Two strangers – one white, one black – steal a car in western NSW and head for the coast. Jack is abrasive, cunning and disparaging about Aborigines. Gary doesn’t really care – he just wants to escape. En route, they pick up Gary’s Uncle Joe, a French hitchhiker and a young woman who’s running away. Their petty crimes escalate as they go, heading towards disaster.

Directed by Phillip Noyce · Written by Josephine Emery

Your Rating

Cast

Make it a double feature

1h 9m together

Both from Phillip Noyce.

More from Phillip NoyceSee all →

The ResidentThe Resident · 2018
The Resident
★ 8.42018
SeriesDrama
A tough, brilliant senior resident guides an idealistic young doctor through his first day, pulling back the curtain on what really happens, both good and bad, in modern-day medicine.
One Hundred a DayOne Hundred a Day · 1973
One Hundred a Day
★ 8.01973
MovieDrama
A young girl is forced to continue working at her machine all day in a 1930s shoe factory after a visit to a backyard abortionist. Based on the short story 'How beautiful are thy feet' by Alan Marshall.
VietnamVietnam · 1987
Vietnam
★ 7.61987
MovieDramaWar
The trials and tribulations of the Goddard family after the entry of Australia into the Vietnam War.
RevengeRevenge · 2011
Revenge
★ 7.52011
SeriesDramaMystery
When Emily Thorne moves to the Hamptons, everyone wonders about the new girl, but she knows everything about them, including what they did to her family. Years ago, they took everything from her. Now, one by one, she's going to make them pay.
Tru CallingTru Calling · 2003
Tru Calling
★ 7.22003
SeriesSci-Fi & FantasyDrama
A university graduate working in the city morgue is able to repeat the same day over again to prevent murders or other disasters.
Rabbit-Proof FenceRabbit-Proof Fence · 2002
Rabbit-Proof Fence
★ 7.02002
MovieAdventureDrama
In 1931, three Aboriginal girls escape after being plucked from their homes to be trained as domestic staff, and set off on a trek across the Outback.
The DismissalThe Dismissal · 1983
The Dismissal
★ 7.01983
SeriesDrama
The sensational dismissal of Prime Minister Gough Whitlam's Labor Government by the Queens representative in Australia, the Governor General, Sir John Kerr on November 11, 1975.
RootsRoots · 2016
Roots
★ 6.92016
SeriesDramaAction & Adventure
An adaptation of Alex Haley's "Roots", chronicling the history of an African slave, Kunta Kinte sold to America and his descendants.
The Bone CollectorThe Bone Collector · 1999
The Bone Collector
★ 6.81999
MovieCrimeThriller
Lincoln Rhyme was the department's top homicide detective and leading expert in criminal forensics until an injury left him paralyzed, depressed, and incapable of working. But when a gruesome murder in Manhattan leaves detectives baffled, they call on Rhyme to help solve the mystery. Amelia Donaghy, a rookie cop whose quick thinking preserved a gruesome murder scene, is enlisted by Rhyme to be his on-the-scene forensics expert. With Amelia reluctantly acting as Rhyme's able-bodied go-between, the pair piece together cryptic clues the killer leaves behind at the scene of the crime, hoping to catch the grisly serial killer.
LuckLuck · 2012
Luck
★ 6.72012
SeriesDrama
A drama set in the world of horse racing focusing on lives of owners, jockeys, trainers and gamblers who are all tied to the same horse track.
Patriot GamesPatriot Games · 1992
Patriot Games
★ 6.71992
MovieDramaAction
When CIA Analyst Jack Ryan interferes with an IRA assassination, a renegade faction targets Jack and his family as revenge.
Clear and Present DangerClear and Present Danger · 1994
Clear and Present Danger
★ 6.61994
MovieActionDrama
Agent Jack Ryan becomes acting Deputy Director of Intelligence for the CIA when Admiral Greer is diagnosed with cancer. When an American businessman, and friend of the president, is murdered on his yacht, Ryan starts discovering links between the man and drug dealers. As former CIA agent John Clark is sent to Colombia to kill drug cartel kingpins in retaliation, Ryan must fight through multiple cover-ups to figure out what happened and who's responsible.
The GiverThe Giver · 2014
The Giver
★ 6.62014
MovieDramaScience Fiction
In a seemingly perfect community, without war, pain, suffering, differences or choice, a young boy is chosen to learn from an elderly man about the true pain and pleasure of the "real" world.
Dead CalmDead Calm · 1989
Dead Calm
★ 6.61989
MovieThrillerDrama
An Australian couple takes a sailing trip in the Pacific to get over the recent loss of their son. While on the open sea, they come across a sinking ship with one survivor who is not at all what he seems.
The Quiet AmericanThe Quiet American · 2002
The Quiet American
★ 6.62002
MovieRomanceThriller
Cynical British journalist Fowler falls in love with a young Vietnamese woman but is dismayed when a naïve U.S. official also begins vying for her attention. In retaliation, Fowler informs the communists that the American is selling arms to their enemy.
Blind FuryBlind Fury · 1989
Blind Fury
★ 6.51989
MovieActionThriller
A blind Vietnam vet, trained as a swordfighter, comes to America and helps to rescue the son of a fellow soldier.

More Like This

BrotherhoodBrotherhood · 2009
Brotherhood
★ 6.92009
MovieDrama
Former Danish servicemen Lars and Jimmy are thrown together while training in a neo-Nazi group. Moving from hostility through grudging admiration to friendship and finally passion, events take a darker turn when their illicit relationship is uncovered.
12 Angry Men12 Angry Men · 1997
12 Angry Men
★ 7.71997
MovieDramaTV Movie
During the trial of a man accused of his father's murder, a lone juror takes a stand against the guilty verdict handed down by the others as a result of their preconceptions and prejudices.
Land of PlentyLand of Plenty · 2004
Land of Plenty
★ 6.22004
MovieDrama
After living abroad, Lana returns to the United States, and finds that her uncle is a reclusive vagabond with psychic wounds from the Vietnam War.
A Bronx TaleA Bronx Tale · 1993
A Bronx Tale
★ 7.91993
MovieDramaCrime
Set in the Bronx during the tumultuous 1960s, an adolescent boy is torn between his honest, working-class father and a violent yet charismatic crime boss. Complicating matters is the youngster's growing attraction - forbidden in his neighborhood - for a beautiful black girl.
Jungle FeverJungle Fever · 1991
Jungle Fever
★ 6.41991
MovieDramaRomance
A successful and married black man contemplates having an affair with a white girl from work. He's quite rightly worried that the racial difference would make an already taboo relationship even worse.
Swept from the SeaSwept from the Sea · 1998
Swept from the Sea
★ 6.41998
MovieDramaRomance
The film tells the story of Russian emigree and the only survivor from ship crash Yanko Goorall and servant Amy Foster in the end of 19th century. When Yanko enters a farm sick and hungry after the shipwreck, everyone is afraid of him, except for Amy, who is very kind and helps him. Soon he becomes like a son for Dr. James Kennedy and romance between Yanko and Amy follows.
Live and BecomeLive and Become · 2005
Live and Become
★ 7.42005
MovieDrama
In 1980, the black Falashas in Ethiopia are recognised as genuine Jews and are secretly carried to Israel. The day before the transport the son of a Jewish mother dies. In his place and with his name (Schlomo) she takes a Christian 9-year-old boy.
Goodbye BafanaGoodbye Bafana · 2007
Goodbye Bafana
★ 6.92007
MovieHistoryDrama
The true story of a white South African racist whose life was profoundly altered by the black prisoner he guarded for twenty years. The prisoner's name was Nelson Mandela.
Monster's BallMonster's Ball · 2001
Monster's Ball
★ 6.82001
MovieDramaRomance
A prison guard begins a tentative romance with the unsuspecting widow of a man whose execution he presided over.
Citizen VigilanteCitizen Vigilante · 2026
Citizen Vigilante
★ 6.52026
MovieThrillerAction
A man takes justice into his own hands, hunting down criminals. His vigilante crusade makes him a social media star but puts him at odds with the local police chief.
American History XAmerican History X · 1998
American History X
★ 8.31998
MovieDrama
Derek Vineyard is paroled after serving 3 years in prison for killing two African-American men. Through his brother, Danny Vineyard's narration, we learn that before going to prison, Derek was a skinhead and the leader of a violent white supremacist gang that committed acts of racial crime throughout L.A. and his actions greatly influenced Danny. Reformed and fresh out of prison, Derek severs contact with the gang and becomes determined to keep Danny from going down the same violent path as he did.
KatzelmacherKatzelmacher · 1969
Katzelmacher
★ 6.41969
MovieDrama
A group of young slackers spend most of their time hanging out in front of a Munich apartment building. When a Greek immigrant named Jorgos moves in, however, their aimless lives are shaken up. Soon, new tensions arise both within the group and with Jorgos.

Rate this film

Your ratings make Midnight smarter