A widower struggles to raise his young son in the aftermath of terminal illness in Scott Hicks’s moving drama, based on the emotionally devastating memoir of Simon Carr.

By turns touching and funny, The Boys Are Back is a tribute to the resilience of the human spirit and a reminder that there is no instruction manual for good parenting.

The film unfolds predominantly in the lush sprawl of South Australia and cinematographer Greig Fraser captures this wilderness in all its splendour.

Tellingly, when the plot necessitates a brief stopover in England, colour appears to leach from every previously vibrant frame. Strewth, we Poms are a bunch of dullards.

Sports reporter Joe Warr (Owen) follows his beloved wife Katy (Fraser) to her home down under where the pair watch proudly as six-year-old son Artie (McAnulty) spreads his wings, with help from grandma Barbara (Blake).

Then their world implodes: Katy is struck down with terminal illness and with no hope of a recovery, the couple prepares for the worst.

The mother fights bravely against the disease but eventually loses, leaving behind Joe as primary caregiver.

The Boys Are Back is a compelling portrait of a family in crisis, underscored with earthy humour.

Owen relishes a meaty lead role, internalising much of his character’s emotion.

Screenwriter Allan Cubitt has made slight alterations to Carr’s text, changing the names of characters and shifting the action from New Zealand.

The introduction of Katy’s ghost as Joe’s confidante threatens to add a sheen of sentimentality that the picture doesn’t need.