4/5 Art imitating life
  by Music lover
Thing I liked the most about this movie is that it shows the bad guy does not always get it in the end.The character of Kat is completely amoral and a user.When she didn't get her way,she became petty and vindictive.This is a great indie movie to watch simply because it goes against the traditional Hollywood ending where the good people win and the bad ones get their comeuppance.

3/5 Nature vs nurture?
  by z hayes (plano,texas)
The central character in "Suburban Mayhem", a low-budget movie from Down Under is Katrina [Emily Barclay] who first appears on camera in the beginning - her father has been brutally murdered, and she is being interviewed about the case. Later, all the other players in this over-the-top drama of a teen gone wild and bad are also interviewed, and the viewer is able to piece together the story that is Katrina's life.

Katrina's raison d'etre is her brother Danny, a badhat who together with his mentally-challenged friend Kenny undertake a store robbery that goes awfully awry resulting in murder. Danny is sentenced to jail and this is the catalyst that drives Katrina over the edge. Though Kat is 19 years-old and a single mom to boot, this doesn't deter her from going all out to get her brother out on appeal. She needs money desperately and when her father, one of the few people in this movie that shows real concern for her and her baby's well-being, doesn't help her, his ultimate fate is sealed, especially after he gets welfare authorities to give him custody of Kat's baby.

There are a host of characters in this movie, but all actually have 'real' roles - there's the boyfriend Rusty whose love for Kat compels him to prove his loyalty in a tragic manner, Lilya the friend from the salon who realises that Kat truly is out of control and suffers her own from of payback for not being a 'loyal' pal,the policeman who turns out to be equally vindictive, Dianne the dad's griflriend who may appear to be well-meaning but has her own agenda and many more. The acting here really does elevate the movie beyond the mundane.

Watching "Suburban Mayhem" is like watching a train wreck - the viewer is well aware that there is no conventional happy ending here and is left to ponder what exactly is the point of the movie - how did this girl get so out of control? Is it nurture or nature?As Kat's father's girlfriend Dianne says, 'Her grandmother was mad, and her mother was mad.' We learn early on that Kat's mom was a drug addict...but this thread really isn't followed up on.

Kat epitomises all the traditional stereotypes of a teen gone bad, and in Emily Barclay's credible portrayal, she defies any rational explanations. Only recommended for those who don't mind their human dramas dark, depressing and with a touch of the farcical.