Viewer Advice: Strong impact themes, depictions of violence towards animals.

Australian New Wave stalwart Bruce Spence (Stork; Mad Max 2, MIFF 2008) stars as a senile man haunted by events he can’t recall.

For Joy (Deborah Kennedy, of “Not happy, Jan!” fame), domestic routines are punctuated by birdsong and gunshots. Meanwhile, her husband Murray (Spence), who seems to be reliving the same day, is waging a backyard war with the mynas. But what Murray is really fighting are painful memories, which eventually wash up in fragments beside St Kilda Pier. Co-written and directed by Melbourne twins Jay and Shaun Perry, who strike a fine balance between suburban kitsch comedy and poignant drama, Cold Water is a tender portrait of ageing, identity and learning to live with the past.