Cory Michael Dawson announces twisted crime thriller, Injurious

Cory Michael Dawson on the set of the original Injurious short film.

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By Matthew Eeles

Filmmaker Cory Michael Dawson has adapted his 2015 short film Injurious into a feature film which will start principal photography in August.

Injurious follows Nathan Knight, played by Paul Moore (Rostered On), described as the worst lawyer money can buy.

After a botched armed robbery involving one of his clients, Knight’s attempt to track down his injured client and a stack of cash is interrupted by a motley crew of shady characters as well as Knight’s personal dealings with his own mental health issues. As Knight begins to lose his grip on reality, his judgement is skewed when he doesn’t know who he can, and can’t, trust.

“This feature film version of Injurious will break genre conventions,” Cory tells Cinema Australia.

“This is not your typical horror film. While it does have moments of pure shock and horror, it is mostly a crime thriller and a dark comedy inspired by the likes of Fight Club, No Country For Old Men and Jackie Brown.”

The Injurious cast includes Roz Hammond (Muriel’s Wedding, How to Please a Woman), Kaitlyn Boyé (The Furies), Tony Nikolakopouls (Jack Irish), Brendan Bacon (Innuendo), Paul Moder (Wentworth), Marianne McLoughlin, Izaak Love, Cris Cochrane, Kieran Cochrane, Harlene Hercules, Steve Jagar and Steven Thomas who will make his acting debut in the film.

Written and directed by Cory, Injurious is currently being produced by Dawson, Steve Jagar and Cris Cochrane.

“We’re very excited to be showcasing some serious local talent both in front of and behind the camera,” says Dawson.

“Our cinematographer is the extraordinary Dillon Pearce. Even though we’re a few months out from shooting, we’re already discussing some truly wicked and experimental shots designed to both shock the audience, and create a sense of disillusion as our protagonist slowly loses his mind.”

Dawson’s original Injurious short film was nominated by Warner Bros. in their Top 5 horror shorts in 2015 and was featured in the studio’s Halloween festival, Fright Night, at Movie World.

This recognition opened up many doors for Dawson including the opportunity to work in Los Angeles where he would direct commercials and edit scripts. While in the US Dawson also began development on another feature film – a murder mystery set in the world of boxing which was put on the back burner as Covid began to interrupt the industry all over the world.

“After months of waiting to hear back from producers in America, one of my mates from the Injurious short film convinced me that we should do a full feature film version,” says Dawson.

“I never expected to be returning to the material, but once I dived in I had the most fun I’ve ever had writing a film. I have no doubt that when we start filming in August we’re going to capture the fun spirit of the Injurious script, and hopefully the audience will have just as much fun as we have had putting it all together.”

Keep an eye on cinemaaustralia.com.au for updates on the film.