Another film from The Quiet American's director and cinematographer, Rabbit Proof Fence tells a story set against Australia's shocking policies towards their Aborigines, forcibly removed from their natural parents by government policy right up to 1970.

Kenneth Branagh, taking relish in his recent run of monsters (from Harry Potter to TV's Conspiracy), is the misguided politician in charge of native Australians: "In spite of himself, the native must be helped," he explains. Three related girls are sent to a camp run by nuns (routinely rogues in modern cinema), escape and try to find their way back to parents 1,500 miles to the north. That's the whole plot.

The journey has echoes of Night of the Hunter and Walkabout, whose native hero David Gulpilil turns up here on the baddies' side as a tracker. Peter Gabriel's music is a plus and the outback skies go on for ever, but apart from their pluck and determination, we never learn a lot about these children, who turn into their real-life selves at the film's conclusion.