Goldstone (film)

Plot synopsis

Three years after exposing the corruption in his hometown of Winton, Indigenous Detective Jay Swan is sent to the small mining town of Goldstone to find a missing Asian tourist. He is pulled over by young local cop Josh for driving under the influence, who informs the town's corrupt mayor Maureen. Jay tells Josh of his case and Josh reluctantly lets him stay at his house.

Josh goes to the local mine, Furnace Creek, to meet with the mine's supervisor Johnny, who attempts to bribe Josh into helping Furnace Creek expand their operations. Johnny meets with Maureen, who is trying to help him get past the local Indigenous land council by bribing the land council's head Tommy into allowing the use of Indigenous land. Jay meets with a local Aboriginal elder, Jimmy, on his search for the missing Asian tourist, who leads him to Furnace Creek. Jay sneaks past the security checkpoint and observes several young Asian women leaving a plane and climbing into a van. The women are being forced into prostitution to pay off their individual, unspecified debts. As he returns to his car, he is arrested by Furnace Creek security and detained for the night, where Johnny attempts to intimidate him.

Upon release, Jay goes to Josh's house, where he is chastised. Jay receives an anonymous phone call offering information on his case. Johnny and Maureen attend a press conference where they announce the expansion, but Jimmy leaves, denying them his signature of approval. Jay receives one of the girls' passports from the caller, the notices Josh's car. He follows Josh to the local creek, where Jimmy's body is hanging from a tree. Jay suspects foul play, but Josh states that Tommy witnessed it.

Josh goes to the local bar/brothel, where the Asian girls are being kept. He befriends a prostitute called Mei and tells her to contact him if she needs help. Jay visits Tommy, who confesses and tells him that Jimmy's death was not a suicide and he was killed by the gang of bikers who work as hitmen for Furnace Creek. Jay consults the man who found the passport and explores the area where it was found. There he finds the skeleton who he assumes was the girl he was assigned to find.

May sees the bikers arrive at the brothel and sends Josh a message. He rushes to the brothel where the girls have disappeared. After interrogating the bartender, Josh is told they are in a trailer in the desert. Josh first visits Maureen who is anxiously shredding paperwork and demands she shuts down the operations. Josh arrives at the trailer to find it empty. The bikers arrive and ambush Josh, forcing him to dig his own grave. Jay, who has followed Josh, incapacitates the bikers with a rifle. Jay then enlists Josh in rescuing the girls.

Jay and Josh drive to the Furnace Creek offices and, after an intense shootout with the bikers, discover the girls' whereabouts. Jay sees Johnny's plane fleeing the mines and chases it while Josh finds and rescues the girls. Jay arrives at the airfield but is intercepted by an armed guard who causes Jay to crash while Johnny escapes. Jay and the guard stand off but decide to spare one another.

Jay and Josh contact state authorities, who retrieve the girls and begin an investigation into the corruption. At Josh's house, he tells Jay that Maureen has skipped town. Jay says goodbye to Josh and drives away from Goldstone into the desert.

Cast

Reception

Goldstone was met with positive reviews from critics and audiences. On review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, the film has an approval rating of 86%, based on 21 reviews, with an average rating of 7.5/10.