The Killings at Parrish Station review: not your average outback murder mystery

Too often the weakest part of a murder mystery is the mystery. Someone’s dead, someone’s done it, here’s a list of suspects, have at it. But what if the mystery went beyond that? What if the only explanation was so far out there it drove you insane? It’s not the kind of thing you expect when a couple of tough Aussie cops rock up to an outback murder site, but that’s what makes The Killings at Parrish Station so intriguing.

It’s 28 December 1987, and four scientists have just been brutally murdered at a remote scientific outpost in central Australia. Detectives Georgia Cooke (Mia Wasikowska) and partner Michael Thorne (Xavier Samuel) fly in via light plane and, in between lighting up cigarettes (it’s the 80s, everyone smokes), take note of a massive SOS carved into the dirt under their feet. So whoever killed the scientists gave them enough time to leave a message – and considering it took the local cops three days to arrive, and that the bodies are pretty messed up, the killer may have taken things pretty slowly.

Fast forward, rewind, play

Before we can get too deep into the investigation, suddenly we’re at a podcast recording. It’s now been 37 years since the Parrish Station killings and the ‘Crime Sluts’ (Cameron James and Alex Lee) podcasters are here to give us a recap. ‘The more time you spend with it and the deeper you go, the weirder it becomes,’ we’re told. With six 45-minute episodes ahead of us, that’s quite the promise.

Back in the past, the plot rapidly thickens. The research station was built atop an old uranium mine, run by the possibly sinister and definitely powerful Parrish family. Alongside the dead bodies there are a number of electronic devices (well, things like toasters and guitars) that have been dismantled. Finding out at least one of the corpses was mutilated while they were still alive, and that another one seems to have pulled out his own teeth before death, is just the icing on a very bloody cake.

The Crime Sluts in 2024 make it pretty clear that nothing was solved back in 1987. Worse, it would be the last case Cooke and Thorne ever ran. We eventually discover that Cooke (now played by Heather Mitchell) is still around, though since the case concluded she’s spent the last three decades or so in an institution, so it’s safe to assume things didn’t exactly wrap up neatly.

With copycat killings starting to emerge, Millie Farrah (Doris Younane), Cooke’s former friend on the force (and occasional babysitter for Cooke’s young daughter) arrives with a chance to finally resolve the case that’s been hanging over her all these years. But is that really such a good idea? And is this the kind of case that can even be resolved without reaching for explanations that go beyond the limits of human knowledge?

Powerful performances

Having first class talents Wasikowska and Mitchell playing the same character separated by almost 40 years gives The Killings at Parrish Station a solid spine to build on – which is essential considering that it very quickly becomes clear that this is the kind of mystery where being mysterious is the focus.

Their performances give us something to hold onto; much of the story isn’t so much about what happened, as how what happened affected Cooke.

Which is important, because for stretches this is the kind of puzzle where the audience is one step ahead of the characters. For example, later in episode one, the 1987 model Cooke and Thorne interview someone who might have vital first-hand evidence as to what happened. The interview doesn’t go well, for reasons that leave the police confused, but which we – thanks to a few pointed cutaways – can figure out.

They still think they’re in one kind of story, when we already know we’re watching something very different. And just quietly, when you cast Alan Dale in a central role, pretty much everyone is going to be keeping a very close eye on what his character gets up to.

The widening mystery at Parrish Station

There are still plenty of surprises ahead as the past and present intertwine and the mystery widens, constantly dragging in eerie new elements as its reach expands. There are no shortage of unsettling scenes either; this is the kind of puzzle that requires people to enter dubious locations looking for creepy clues, and while there’s a lot of slow, creeping dread going on, jump scares (and gore) are also on the menu.

The Killings at Parrish Station is an entertaining and well-constructed twist on the traditional outback mystery that’s best enjoyed as a wild ride rather than a series of questions to be answered. Sure, it’s all explained – to some extent – in the end, but the bits that’ll stay with you are the scary scenes and the performances.

Seeing actors embody the same character decades apart can make for powerful viewing, and this takes full advantage to create scenes that would be moving stuff even without a series of brutal killings going on.

Though as at least one of those killings involves the world of true crime podcasting, it seems that even graphic ritual murder has an upside.

The Killings at Parrish Station is streaming on Stan from 24 June.

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