Success and youth must be a tough combo.  Your life goes one of two ways – straight to rehab á la Lohan, or straight to the dole queue accompanied by ‘What Are They Doing Now?’ TV rundowns. But, founded by the naked gay sex efforts of Daniel Radcliffe in Kill Your Darlings, it seems there is now a Third Way, as followed by latest disciple R-Patz in The Rover.

It’s the Australian outback sometime in the near dystopian future. Something has happened to society. We don’t know what, but it was bad. Order has collapsed, lawlessness reigns and it’s ever grumpy, unwashed outback man for himself. Henry (Scoot McNairy) and a few assorted cohorts are gunwielding hoodlums cruising through the desert. Chancing upon a diner, they steal the car belonging to Eric (Guy Pearce) who’s inside have a spot of lunch. Eric is inordinately angry about this. So angry he throws what appears to be all reason out the window, procures a truck and steams after them in hot pursuit.

On catching them up there is a stand off, shots are fired and in the melee Eric captures Henry’s younger brother Rey (Robert Pattinson). Rambling and dishevelled, it soon seems the shuffling, twitching Rey is not quite all there. But that’s OK because Eric decides Rey is his best ticket to getting his car back, so the chase continues.

Brooding and atmospheric to the point of oppression, The Rover is deliberately opaque, keeping us guessing as to the motives and backstories of its aggressive, haunted characters. Switching between the vast, empty dustbowl of the outback to gloomy, dark interiors, it captures the dystopian bleakness perhaps a little too well, not least through Guy Pearce’s chilling performance as Eric. But it was R-Patz’s vunerable, physical portrayal of Rey that stood out for The Sloth. Seems one more acting fledging has successfully flown the nest and hurrah for that.

UK release 15 August. Something else on the dark side? Frank is dark and funny.