Metal Skin

Joe lives with his brain-damaged father in a working-class suburb of Melbourne, struggling to cope with his father's disruptive condition. The film establishes Joe as a shy, car-obsessed misfit trying to navigate his difficult home life. His everyday world is defined by routine, responsibility, and mounting pressure at home.

Joe starts working at a local supermarket and is befriended by Dazey after walking in on him having sex in the break room. Dazey is a confident, reckless car enthusiast who will shape Joe's social circle. The encounter foreshadows a complicated bond between the two men and their friends.

Dazey's brother is a Nascar driver, and with their father they run a car garage. Dazey helps Joe by obtaining parts from the family shop, feeding Joe's growing obsession with souped-up cars. The garage world expands Joe's horizons beyond the supermarket.

Joe beats an attacker at the shop who is the boyfriend of a woman Dazey slept with. The act marks Joe's willingness to cross lines to protect his new circle. The incident deepens the bond and the danger surrounding their world.

Savina, a devil-worshipper who works with Dazey and Joe, feigns interest in Joe to get closer to Dazey. She has been obsessed with Dazey since high school and often engages in dark mysticism. Her presence hints at looming danger within their circle.

The four of them go to street races and drink together, forging dangerous bonds. Joe begins to develop feelings for Savina, while Savina's bond with Dazey grows more complex, fueling her obsession. The night reveals the fragility of their friendships.

Savina falls to her death at a church after sinking into deep depression, leaving Joe devastated because they had started to fall in love. The tragedy shatters the fragile dynamic of the group and deepens Joe's isolation. Grief starts a chain reaction that will lead to violence.

Joe's house is vandalized, a brutal sign of the chaos surrounding him. Dazey wrestles with his own grief and guilt over Savina's death, trying to keep the group together. The home front fractures as external pressures mount.

As Joe dreams of the dead Savina, he is awoken by his father banging on the ceiling. In a sudden, violent act, Joe shoots his father in the head, killing him. The dream becomes a catalyst for Joe's own irreversible violence.

Joe drives to Dazey's father's workshop and shoots Ted, a worker there. The killing marks a full descent into murderous impulse and shows no one is safe from Joe's unraveling psyche. The violence escalates rapidly from personal to indiscriminate.

Joe goes to Roslyn's house, where Dazey is, and threatens Dazey while Roslyn tries to talk him down. He tells Roslyn that she could be with him if she chooses, intensifying the emotional stakes. The confrontation sets the stage for a climactic pursuit.

Roslyn knocks Joe unconscious with a mask as she and Dazey sprint to a car and speed away. Joe gives chase in his own car, tightening the noose around the trio. The pursuit becomes a desperate, fatal dash through the night.

The chase ends in a wreck at the docks; Roslyn escapes while Joe dies from his injuries. Dazey, dazed and confused, calls for Roslyn, left searching for answers amid the wreckage. The film closes on the aftermath of violence and loss.