Monkey Puzzle follows five intrepid friends on an adventure into New South Wales' Blue Mountains on a search for the world's rarest tree, the Wollemi Pine. After abseiling down into the rainforest canyons, a series of mishaps delay their adventure. Tensions in the group surface quickly. As the friends become engulfed by the harsh terrain, they come face-to-face with their most personal secrets and fears on a journey which will test their perceptions of friendship, intimacy and the nature of their pasts.
Cinematography
Blue Mountains look impossibly lush and claustrophobic.
Writing
Dialogue that actually sounds like Australians, not caricatures.
Director
Mark Forstman
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
The Wollemi Pine was genuinely discovered in 1994, making it one of the world's rarest trees—only about 100 exist in the wild.
Director Mark Forstman shot in actual Blue Mountains canyons, forcing cast to perform real abseiling—Ryan Johnson later said the physical exhaustion fueled the on-screen fraying.
US
