The film is a time capsule of a Melbourne long gone. It was shot in the western suburbs around Spotswood and Yarraville, and the industrial sprawl of Docklands, shortly before it was redeveloped. “We got the last use of old-time Melbourne,” says Wright.

“The epic sweep of the west was visually very rewarding,” says Wright. He also spent time at illegal drag races as research, many of which were held out west. “The west had space,” he says. “There were a lot of opportunities for, shall we say, reckless behaviour.”

It’s also full of early performances from some of the best Australian actors of their generation. In 2024, Ben Mendelsohn is a huge international star. Aden Young works between Australia, the US and Canada in TV and film. Tara Morice and Nadine Garner are renowned theatre actors, and the latter has starred in hit ABC television drama, The Doctor Blake Mysteries.

Garner is currently appearing in Melbourne Theatre Company’s play The Almighty Sometimes, written by Australian playwright Kendall Feaver. She did not expect Metal Skin to come up in her rear vision mirror.

“It sounds like a long time ago, but I remember it very clearly,” she says, conceding that she hasn’t seen it since it was released. “It was such an exciting film to work on. It felt hyper-real.”

Garner already had a working relationship with Wright, having been in discussions to appear in Romper Stomper (in a role that eventually went to Jacqueline McKenzie). She still believes he is one of Australia’s great filmmakers. “I’ve always found him very exciting,” she says. “His work is very poetic and brave. He’s potentially our Tarantino.”

“He’s not particularly inside the box either,” she adds. “He put noses out of joint.”

The Movie Show reviewer David Stratton famously objected to Romper Stomper’s content so adamantly that he refused to give it a star rating.

“I think he thought it was an evil film,” says Wright. “The irony is by not rating it, he gave it enormous publicity,” says Wright.

Rumour has it that Wright later responded by pouring a glass of wine over his head at the Venice Film Festival. Wright denies this. “No way,” he says. “We were line dancing at the Australian drinks party and bumped into each other. Wine was spilled, but I offered to get him another drink immediately.”

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Metal Skin also has its fair share of violence. But like Romper Stomper, its violence belies a heart of suburban angst.

“We think about the ’burbs as a bit dull and ordinary,” says Wright. “But when you pick apart ordinary lives in the suburbs you find all these incredible tensions that go unexpressed. Once you start digging you see tremendous conflict, tremendous contradiction. I think that’s what motivated me.”