FREELANCE is a Psychological Thriller from Australia. It’s a low-budget indie production, but you won’t be thinking it looks or feels “cheap”. In fact, the end result is amazing making this a movie you don’t want to miss. Read our full Freelance movie review here!
FREELANCE is an indie movie from Australia. This is a psychological thriller but it hits hard like a dark horror movie at times. Snuff movies are a core part of the plot so we’re dealing with very sinister behavior.
The movie is a low-budget indie production, but I never noticed any quality issues of any kind. From sound to visuals, this production is high quality. Also, I feel like the heart and passion of the filmmakers come across. The runtime is 1 hour and 50 minutes which I felt certain would be too long. It wasn’t!
Continue reading our Freelance movie review below. Find it on VOD now.
Desperate and broke
When we meet Katie (Nicole Pastor) in Freelance, she’s struggling to make ends meet. She’s an editor and has worked on shows for some well-known television production companies. However, in more recent times, she’s taken a few freelance gigs editing adult movies. This is what she’s doing when we meet her.
And this is about to become a problem for her; The new potential clients are not down with having an editor with these more “unsavory” references on her resume. It’s silly really, but obviously also their prerogative.
Behind on rent, and even being cheated out of the promised pay for her edition in the adult movie department, she’s suddenly contacted by a new client. A very anonymous and secretive client who states simply that they were referred to her.
She’s offered 1,000 dollars to edit a two-minute short film. If all goes well and she wants to continue, there’s more work to come. Despite feeling iffy about the whole thing, she decides to give it a shot. What’s the worst that could happen, right?!
Well, being sent clips that look like either a bad student film school project or possibly a real snuff movie.
How far would you go?
Katie tries to convince herself that it’s just a badly made home video, and not real at all. However, it’s not long before she finds herself haunted by the people she sees in those video clips. Whether people being assaulted, tortured, or even someone taking their own life, it’s all leaves scars on anyone watching.
Just when she thinks it can’t get any worse and wants to quit, there’s a new money issue. And a new demand from this secretive client. A client that pays well and immediately, I might add.
How far would you go? How much could you stomach?
This is the core subject in Freelance which is efficient and dark at every turn. Also, many characters aren’t very likable. Including Katie, who is eerily good at making bad choices and doing the wrong thing to make things worse for herself.
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Apart from Nicole Pastor (The Cost) in the title role as the freelance editor, Katie, we have Jordan Fraser-Trumble and Stephen Degenaro in key roles. Also, in supporting roles, we see Jasper Bragg (The Tourist) and Hannah Brooke.
Oh, and the cat Pav (short for Pavarotti) played by Albert. We can’t forget him… he plays a key part as well.
Watch Freelance on VOD now!
Freelance comes from director John Balazs (Rage) and was written by Mike Gerbino, who created the short film it’s based on. Despite the lower-budget indie production, this feature film delivers on all that matters – not least production quality. Once again showing that talent and passion will beat out a bigger budget any time!
Freelance was an official selection at Monster Fest 2024, and I can only imagine it must have been a blast to watch with an audience at a genre film festival. I was fully prepared that this movie would be too long and feel too forced, but it wasn’t and it didn’t. I really liked this – much more than I ever expected.
The Australian psychological thriller has been released on VOD through Radioactive Pictures in Australia and Gravitas Ventures in North America. You can find it where you usually watch digital VOD – Prime Video, Apple TV, Fandango at Home, etc.
Freelance was released on VOD on January 28, 2025.
Details
Director: John Balazs
Writer: Mike Gerbino
Cast: Nicole Pastor, Jordan Fraser-Trumble, Stephen Degenaro, Jasper Bagg, Blair Allen
Plot
When a video editor takes a well-paying job cutting snuff films, she finds herself haunted by the people in her videos.
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