Looking forward to tomorrow

Australian actress Caitlin Stasey poses for a portrait while promoting Tomorrow When the War Began. (AAP Image/Dean Lewins)

IT has become a rite of passage for Australian teenagers to read John Marsden's Tomorrow When the War Began book series.

I remember after finishing the first book thinking to myself, ‘that would make a great movie'. But as soon as the thought entered my mind I shuddered because at the time Australian movies had a reputation for being atrociously bad.

I'm glad the movie wasn't made 10 years ago, because with our Aussie films becoming better by the day, I am very relieved to say that the Tomorrow When the War Began movie is a real triumph.

While it's not perfect, it comes pretty darn close to capturing the adventures and emotions of the book, in which seven Aussie teenagers who go on a secluded weekend camping trip come back to civilisation to discover the country has been invaded.

The scenes in which the group slowly realise what has happened are truly breathtaking, especially when narrator Ellie Linton (Caitlin Stasey) sees for the first time the town's residents being locked up in the showgrounds by the invaders.

There are a lot of real standout moments in this film, and even though I knew what was going to happen, I was still on the edge of my seat for most of it.

One of the most poignant scenes is when the group meet up with stoner classmate, Chris, and he tells them how he found out they had been invaded. This was a memorable movie moment and it's a shame a lot of people in the cinema were laughing throughout it.

But apart from this moment, most of the best scenes belong to narrator Ellie and former Neighbours star Stasey puts in a solid performance here, even though it was a little off-putting that her accent was too well-rounded for a knock-about girl from the bush.

My favourite character from the books was always the class clown turned mighty warrior, Homer Yannos, so I was very pleased to see unknown Deniz Akdeniz pull it off effortlessly, and Ashleigh Cummings as the devout Christian Robyn Mathers was also a stand-out, especially nearing the end.

But all of the actors did quite well, especially considering all of them except Lincoln Lewis (Home and Away) and Rachel Hurd-Wood (Peter Pan) were relatively unknown.

Congratulations has to go to first time director Stuart Beattie who really pulled the whole thing off. My teenage fears that a movie based on the book could turn out dreadfully in Aussie hands were certainly wiped away after watching this.

Thanks to our friends at Hyperplex Cinemas Loganholme, The Reporter has a double movie pass to give away. For your chance to win, email your full name, address and phone number to competition@qtcn.com.au.