Gone (15) <!-- none onestar twostar threestar fourstar fivestar -->

There's cleverness enough in this Australian backpacker drama without it stretching the nerves quite so tautly as the horrific Wolf Creek. Brit traveller Alex (Shaun Evans), en route to see his girlfriend Sophie (Amelia Warner), is befriended by American drifter Taylor (Scott Mechlowicz); the couple, having taken up the American's offer of a lift, gradually discover that Taylor might be more than just a cuckoo in the nest. Director Ringan Ledwidge relies too heavily in the early scenes on poppy montages, but once the trio reaches the outback and the sexual tension mounts he suddenly tightens the noose to leave us fighting for breath. Gone, but not forgotten.