Last Stop Larrimah – Review (4/5)

LAST STOP LARRIMAH on HBO (US) and Netflix (international) is a true-crime documentary that will make your jaw drop. Perfect if you enjoyed Tiger King. However, this one takes place in Australia, but that just makes for a whole new set of toughness. Read our full Last Stop Larrimah review here!

LAST STOP LARRIMAH is a new HBO documentary – released on Netflix internationally. It’s a true crime case about a missing person, but nothing is as it seems. What makes it so very entertaining (and yes, that is the correct word for this documentary) is the fact that the people in this are very umm unique.

They live in a tiny town in the Australian outback. We’re talking about a very rural area where it’s an all-day project to go grocery shopping. If you enjoyed watching Tiger King, then you absolutely must watch this one as well. Once you think you have an idea of what happened, a new angle is introduced. Everyone has their own agenda – and their own enemies.

Continue reading our Last Stop Larrimah documentary review below. Find it on HBO as a movie in the US, and on Netflix in other countries as a two-part series.

That escalated quickly

The Last Stop Larrimah documentary focuses on how one day in December of 2017, Paddy Moriarty and his dog Kellie left the local pub and vanished. Paddy (and his dog Kellie) were missing and it became local news. Especially as it seems impossible to vanish in such a small town in the middle of nowhere. Surely, he couldn’t just vanish… unless someone made sure he did.

Larrimah is a very small and remote town nestled deep in the Australian Outback. The town has just 11 residents and as we’re first introduced to the town, it’s described as a wonderful place with friendly people.

Well, that image doesn’t last very long and it escalates quite quickly from there.

Over the course of the documentary, which is told in five chapters with appropriate titles, we become familiar with the long history of infighting. The remaining 10 residents become suspects though some are clearly looked at more than others. While no definite answers are given – this isn’t actually the point of the documentary – we follow the investigation that leads to Paddy being declared dead.

The 11 eccentric residents of Larrimah

The actual point of this documentary is to show how the smallest of towns can struggle with huge issues. Larrimah’s quirky history does start out as a wonderful story. An Outback town full of happy – usually drunk – people. A town that was once a truly close-knit community. However, small-town drama is no joke and you can only push someone so far before someone goes missing.

Or so it would seem.

Also, it should be noted that a remote town like Larrimah does tend to attract somewhat eccentric people.

The 11 residents of Larrimah are certainly worthy of getting the “eccentric” label.

There’s Barry Sharpe, who owns the Larrimah Hotel & Pub, and a beefy pet crocodile. To be honest, it seems to mostly be a pub. Then there’s Fran Hodgetts, who’s a shop owner specializing in exotic meat pies. She’s very outspoken and direct which has made her a quirky outcast.

Husband and wife, Karl and Bobbie Roth ran the local fire and rescue team. They are also bitter rivals of Barry. Billy Hodgetts is Fran’s ex-husband, and while he loved her once he cannot stand her now. Battling cancer, he is all skin and bones, but still very much up for telling his story.

Cookie Burke is a mellow old fellow who loves juicy gossip but tends not to get involved with it. While Karen and Mark Rayner, are the two newest and youngest residents of Larrimah. Another very outspoken person is Richard Simpson, the bartender working at Barry’s Hotel & Pub. There’s also Larrimah’s oldest resident, the 81-year-old Lenny Hodson.

Finally, there was an 11th resident by the name of Patrick “Paddy” Moriarty. A man born in Ireland, but Aussie-by-choice since he moved there in 1966. He is also quite the heavy drinker and loves stirring trouble, it seems. Well, until he went missing, obviously.

Watch Last Stop Larrimah on HBO or Netflix now!

This HBO Original documentary film was directed by Thomas Tancred and executive produced by Mark Duplass, Jay Duplass, and Mel Eslyn of Duplass Brothers Productions. The documentary had its world premiere at the 2023 SXSW Film Festival, which tends to be a very good sign. A seal of approval, really.

MORE DOCUMENTARIES FROM DUPLASS BROTHERS PRODUCTIONS

All three also produced the Hulu documentary Sasquatch (2021) – read our review of the docu-series here >

While this was made as a documentary film and is released as such on HBO, Netflix has made it into a two-part series. I don’t know why, really, except to give people a chance for a break. Personally, I found it impossible to stop watching so it wouldn’t matter if there was a break or not.

As stated already, Last Stop Larrimah really is perfect for anyone who enjoyed Tiger King. I don’t know that this is as crazy. Actually, it probably isn’t because it’s on a much smaller and more intimate scale. This very small town with a tiny population (11 until one went missing and then it was 10) manages to have a lot of drama and enemies. Soap operas have nothing on Larrimah!

Well, except maybe murder, but even that happens in soap operas every now and then. The alternative full title of this documentary is actually Last Stop Larrimah: Murder Down Under. A little too on-the-nose maybe, as murder isn’t actually proven!

Last Stop Larrimah was released on HBO & Max in the US on October 8, 2023. And on Netflix in other countries as a two-part series, from October 20, 2023.