You know there are elements to this movie that are fabulous ! The attention to detail of Australia in the 70's is brilliant. The surfing scenes are tense and beautiful. Cinematography is rich and delicious. Richard Roxborough and Rachel Black are completely understated and wonderful as Pikelet's parents and hats off to the young lead actors who do a decent job in their respective roles BUT what fell absolutely flat for me was the 'shift' in the movie 90 minutes in and i'm TOTALLY left scratching my head as to WHY they added a revolting auto erotism asphixiation scene which if i'm right i'm lead to believe was not in the book and just made me sick to my stomach. The sex scenes were tastefully done UNTIL this disgusting moment. It didn't suit the tone of the movie WHATSOEVER and had the roles been reversed and that was a young teenager with a MUCH old man all hell would have broken loose and rightly so ! I just lost all respect for the film after that as there is no way i can now recommend that to my teenage nephews now. Had i been watching an European arthouse erotic flick it would have made sense. I'd love to know why Simon thought this would be suited to what was otherwise a solid and classy movie. 5 stars for the movie and a wopping big zero for that additional scene !