Erik Jensen was an ambitious 19 year-old journalist at The Sydney Morning Herald when Archibald Prize-Winning painter, Adam Cullen, with a career retrospective at the Art Gallery of NSW, invited him to write his biography. This is the story of the four-and-a-half years leading to Cullen’s death at the age of 46. It is the story of their increasingly claustrophobic relationship.
Based on Erik Jensen’s award-winning biography of Adam Cullen, ACUTE MISFORTUNE is the story of the biographer and his subject. It is one of the most acclaimed Australian films of the year, revealing an iconic artist and lauded author in unsparing detail.
ACUTE MISFORTUNE is a film about theft and the commerce of theft, the instability of lies and of coming through an abusive relationship to find meaning in its wake.
These are true events, told almost entirely in real dialogue. Featuring AACTA Best Actor Winner, Daniel Henshall (Snowtown, The Babadook), and Toby Wallace (Romper Stomper, The Turning) the debut feature of Thomas M. Wright (Sweet Country, Top of the Lake) is a meticulously researched film that was named one of the best films of the year in The Monthly Awards and by Screen Daily and received The Age Critics Prize at Melbourne International Film Festival.
