Gone (2007 film)

Gone is a 2007 psychological horror film starring Shaun Evans and Amelia Warner as a young British couple travelling through the Australian outback who become involved with a mysterious and charismatic American (Scott Mechlowicz) whose motive for imposing his friendship upon them becomes increasingly suspect.

Directed by Ringan Ledwidge in his directorial debut, the film was produced by Universal Pictures, Australian Film Finance Corporation (AFFC), StudioCanal, Working Title Films, and WT2 Productions.

Plot
Alex (Shaun Evans) arrives in Sydney. Realizing he has missed his bus, he is reading his travel guide on stone steps in the street, when Taylor (Scott Mechlowicz) suddenly sits near Alex and makes small talk with him, insisting that he come with him. After drinking and raucously horsing around with two unnamed girls, Alex awakens in a city park with Taylor standing over him with a Polaroid camera, snapping a photo of Alex with one of the girls they met that night. When driving out of town in Taylor's vehicle, Alex reveals that he is to be at Byron Bay to meet his girlfriend Sophie (Amelia Warner) and Taylor suggests that they travel together. When Alex and Taylor meet Sophie, she is with Ingrid (Zoe Tuckwell-Smith), a German tourist. The four of them head towards Katherine Gorge in the Northern Territory. The following day, about to leave, Taylor vaguely mentions that Ingrid had to meet someone and had caught a bus, with Alex and Sophie unamused. They then go back to a day of countryside driving and camp for the night in heavy rain, with Alex and Sophie sleeping in the tent and Taylor is in the vehicle. Taylor unexplainably turns on the headlights, lighting up the tent, and Alex gets out and watches Taylor drive away. Taylor is back the next day, with the three of them in a field on a clear day. They then go to a party at a bar and a woman there recognizes him, calling him; "Jamie from Thailand", confronts him for being criminally defrauded and jilted with Taylor initially claiming she's mistaken and then head swipes the woman with a vulgar disregard. The three then stay at a trailer.

After a day of driving, in a collision with a kangaroo herd, Alex sustains a major head wound. They then stop at a motel and Sophie and Taylor get him medic supplies and allow him to recuperate. Then after driving, Alex frustrated at the inanity of the trip attacks Taylor, knocking him down and kicking him, with Sophie placating him, citing the need to finish the trip. After talking with Taylor, Sophie then goes to look for Alex, but the room is empty, and he texts her saying, "I'm going." Sophie tries to convince Taylor to go look for him, but they end up waiting the night.

The next day, they head toward the next town. Taylor says that they should pull over and rest. They spend the night together and in the morning, Sophie attempts to text Alex. The phone in Taylor's pocket lights up. The next morning, Sophie claims that Ingrid texted her to meet them at Katherine's Gorge. Taylor and Sophie start arguing, and he begins menacing Sophie, further agitating her, and she runs a distance with Taylor following her, and then she dashes to the vehicle with Taylor in pursuit. Sophie successfully gets in the car with Taylor locked out, who then attempts to punch and kick out the window and Sophie drives into Taylor. Taylor slides off to the side, which pops open the back door open, and the lifeless body of Alex in a sleeping bag then falls out. Sophie stops to revel in horror, which allows Taylor to jump back in the back. She continues driving with Taylor attempting to unscrew the wire mesh that separates them, them arguing that she has no romantic feelings for him. Eventually, after loosening one side, he attempts to enter the cab and Sophie slams the brakes with the wire mesh edges piercing him, with her accelerating and slamming repeatedly, further ripping him open, then he falls out. She looks back and he gets up, still alive. She then accelerates backwards and fatally rams him, and then continues on driving.

Cast

 * Shaun Evans as Alex
 * Scott Mechlowicz as Taylor
 * Amelia Warner as Sophie
 * Yvonne Strzechowski as Sondra
 * Victoria Thaine as Lena
 * Zoe Tuckwell-Smith as Ingrid

Production
The film was shot in several locations in New South Wales and Queensland, Australia. Outback scenes were filmed near the towns of Longreach and Winton on the extensive "black soil" plains of western Queensland.

Box office
Gone grossed $88,748 at the Australian box office.

Critical reception
The film has a 54% approval rating on the review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes based on 13 reviews, with an average score of 5.65/10.