| Director | Rolf de Heer |
|---|---|
| Genre | Western film |
| Country | Australia |
| Box office | A$818,388 |
In 1922, in the Australian outback, an Aboriginal tracker (The Tracker) leads three white men (The Fanatic, The Follower, and The Veteran) in the search for an Aboriginal man (The Fugitive) accused of the murder of a white woman. Along the way, they encounter a group of Aboriginal men and women, with one wearing the uniform of a tracker. After a tense interrogation, the Aboriginals are shot and hanged. The incident leaves The Follower visibly distraught, although The Fanatic tries to justify their actions. From this point, the local Aboriginals begin to take retribution on the group. They first spear their packhorse, which falls off a cliff. With the loss of their supplies; The Veteran tries to convince The Fanatic to turn back, yet he remains adamant about capturing The Fugitive.
As the group continues, The Fanatic begins to become suspicious of The Tracker. When The Tracker leaves the camp one night to find bush tucker, The Fanatic has him chained on his return. Although The Fanatic is distrustful of The Tracker, he has The Tracker show The Follower how he tracks to prove him wrong.
When The Veteran is speared, the group is initially oblivious until alerted by The Tracker who heard it. As a result of his injury, The Veteran lags behind the others and The Fanatic attempts to leave him behind. The Follower resists this idea until The Fanatic points a pistol at him. The group is then stopped by The Tracker, who refuses to move until The Veteran catches up, even when whipped and threatened by The Fanatic. At night, The Fanatic kills The Veteran while everyone sleeps, unaware that he is being watched by The Tracker. After giving Catholic absolution to The Veteran, The Tracker gains a new level of respect from The Follower.
Still in chains held by The Fanatic, The Tracker purposely falls into a watering hole where he attempts to drown The Fanatic, yet both survive. After another horse is speared and flees, the group comes across a group of Aboriginals. The Fanatic quickly begins shooting, killing an elder and child. He is stopped by The Follower, who disarms The Fanatic and places him in chains. After The Follower is knocked out after eating spiked bush tucker at night, The Tracker alone organizes a British-style court to try The Fanatic for murder. He subsequently hangs him and hits his own head with a rock until he bleeds to make The Follower think that local Aboriginals attacked and hanged The Fanatic.
After awakening, The Follower and The Tracker continue their search for The Fugitive until surrounded by Aboriginals. Disarmed, they are led to a group of elders where The Fugitive is also being held. Although The Tracker convinces The Follower that he is innocent of the accused crimes, he carries out Aboriginal justice by spearing The Fugitive in the thigh for the crime of having raped a woman earlier in the film. Returning to camp, they find the body of The Fanatic missing. Bidding The Follower farewell, The Tracker rides off towards his country.