Outside views · Oceania
10 Best Movies Set in or About Australia
Compare foreign uses of the outback, colonial history, war, migration, and national myth with the country’s own more complicated view of place.
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Compare the route at a glance
Runtime, mood, and entry level help narrow the list without replacing the editorial ranking.
| Film | Runtime | Genre | Mood | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tom-Yum-Goong | 105 min | Action · Crime · Drama | tense · thoughtful · adventurous | first visit |
| Where the Green Ants Dream | 100 min | Drama | thoughtful · dreamlike | shorter watch |
| A Girl in Australia | 107 min | Comedy | funny | a lighter route |
| The Rescuers Down Under | 77 min | Animation · Family · Adventure | adventurous | first visit · shorter watch · animation fans |
| Crayon Shin-chan: Honeymoon Hurricane ~The Lost Hiroshi~ | 100 min | Animation · Adventure · Family | dreamlike · adventurous | shorter watch · animation fans |
| Scooby-Doo! and the Legend of the Vampire | 72 min | Family · Animation · Comedy | funny · uplifting | shorter watch · animation fans · a lighter route |
| Salaam Namaste | 158 min | Comedy · Romance · Drama | funny · romantic · thoughtful | a lighter route |
| Under Capricorn | 118 min | Drama · History | thoughtful | film history |
| Mission: Impossible 2 | 123 min | Adventure · Action · Thriller | tense · dark · adventurous | first visit |
| Land Without Women | 117 min | Drama | thoughtful | film history |
10 Movies Set in or About Australia
Foreign-led films whose sustained setting or subject remains centered on Australia.
-
1. Tom-Yum-Goong
When his beloved elephants are stolen and smuggled to Sydney, a young Thai fighter follows the trail to Australia and takes on a ruthless crime syndicate to get them back. A hard-hitting martial-arts action film starring Tony Jaa.
Details
- Runtime
- 105 min
- Genre
- Action · Crime · Drama
- Mood
- tense · thoughtful · adventurous
- Best for
- first visit
Content notes: violence or threat
-
2. Where the Green Ants Dream
When a mining company begins drilling on land that Aboriginal Australians hold sacred as the dreaming place of the green ants, the elders stand their ground against the machinery of progress. Werner Herzog's contemplative drama about two irreconcilable worldviews.
Details
- Runtime
- 100 min
- Genre
- Drama
- Mood
- thoughtful · dreamlike
- Best for
- shorter watch
-
3. A Girl in Australia
An old-fashioned Italian immigrant clinging to the values of an earlier era sets out to find a traditional wife in the liberated Australia of the 1970s — with unexpected, comic results. An Italian comedy of migration and mismatched expectations.
Details
- Runtime
- 107 min
- Genre
- Comedy
- Mood
- funny
- Best for
- a lighter route
-
4. The Rescuers Down Under
When a ruthless poacher in the Australian outback kidnaps a boy who can lead him to a rare golden eagle, the heroic mice of the Rescue Aid Society fly Down Under to the rescue. A Disney animated adventure.
Details
- Runtime
- 77 min
- Genre
- Animation · Family · Adventure
- Mood
- adventurous
- Best for
- first visit · shorter watch · animation fans
Content notes: violence or threat
-
5. Crayon Shin-chan: Honeymoon Hurricane ~The Lost Hiroshi~
The Nohara family finally takes a long-dreamed-of overseas trip on a bargain holiday package to Australia — only for their belated honeymoon to spiral into chaos and adventure. An animated family comedy from the Crayon Shin-chan series.
Details
- Runtime
- 100 min
- Genre
- Animation · Adventure · Family
- Mood
- dreamlike · adventurous
- Best for
- shorter watch · animation fans
-
6. Scooby-Doo! and the Legend of the Vampire
Scooby-Doo and the gang travel to a music festival at Australia's Vampire Rock, where a legendary vampire and his ghoulish band start making rock stars vanish. An animated mystery caper.
Details
- Runtime
- 72 min
- Genre
- Family · Animation · Comedy
- Mood
- funny · uplifting
- Best for
- shorter watch · animation fans · a lighter route
-
7. Salaam Namaste
Two young Indian expatriates in Melbourne — a radio host and a chef — decide to move in together without marrying, a bold choice that unravels when an unplanned pregnancy forces them to confront what they really want. A breezy Bollywood romantic comedy.
Details
- Runtime
- 158 min
- Genre
- Comedy · Romance · Drama
- Mood
- funny · romantic · thoughtful
- Best for
- a lighter route
-
8. Under Capricorn
In colonial Sydney, a British newcomer is drawn into the troubled household of a wealthy former convict and his fragile, secretive wife, whose shared past threatens to surface. Hitchcock's brooding period melodrama.
Details
- Runtime
- 118 min
- Genre
- Drama · History
- Mood
- thoughtful
- Best for
- film history
Content notes: substance use
-
9. Mission: Impossible 2
Agent Ethan Hunt races across Australia to stop a rogue former colleague from unleashing a man-made plague, recruiting a beautiful thief to help him get close to the villain. John Woo's stylish, high-flying entry in the spy franchise.
Details
- Runtime
- 123 min
- Genre
- Adventure · Action · Thriller
- Mood
- tense · dark · adventurous
- Best for
- first visit
Content notes: violence or threat · sexual content
-
10. Land Without Women
Hundreds of British women answer an advertisement to sail to Australia and marry lonely miners. As the long voyage tests them, rivalry flares over who will be left without a husband. An early German romantic drama.
Details
- Runtime
- 117 min
- Genre
- Drama
- Mood
- thoughtful
- Best for
- film history
Hear the country first
10 Best Australian Movies to Watch First
Connect the Australian New Wave, Indigenous filmmaking, landscape, suburban life, documentary, comedy, and genre cinema beyond the familiar outback image.
- Picnic at Hanging Rock 1975
- Mad Max 1979
- Wake in Fright 1971
Selected by the FilmsAroundThe.World editorial desk
Selections require an outside creative lead and a story or subject substantially centered on Australia. Decision labels are concise editorial aids, and content notes are non-exhaustive. Read the methodology.
Editorial review: 2026-07-13
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