Synopsis
Based on Peter Carey's novel of the same name, the film is a highly-fictionalised account of the life of Australian bushranger Ned Kelly and his gang as they flee from authorities during the 1870s.
Although the following facts are not made clear in the film, in reality Ned Kelly's father, John "Red" Kelly (Gentle Ben Corbett), was an Irishman transported to a prison colony in Van Diemen's Land, who eventually settled in the colony of Victoria, Australia. After marrying Ned's mother Ellen (Essie Davis), the Kellys settled in a rural area northeast of Melbourne. Before the film's narrative begins, Red Kelly has had numerous brushes with the colonial police forces. Toward the start of the film he has another confrontation with the constabulary which results in his imprisonment and death when his son Ned (Orlando Schwerdt) is twelve years old. Ned is a courageous and compassionate boy, in one instance jumping into a river to save another boy from drowning. Ned is shocked when he finds evidence that his father has been cross-dressing while carrying out his outlaw raids.
Ned's mother attempts to provide for her children by running a still or shebeen, providing sexual favors to Sergeant O'Neill (Charlie Hunnam), and taking on a series of lovers, eventually including the notorious bushranger Harry Power (Russell Crowe). Power takes on young Ned as an apprentice and provides him with knowledge of the land, hideouts, and strategies for bushranging. Under pressure from Power, Ned shoots Sergeant O'Neil but refuses to kill him, despite Power ordering him to do so. Ned leaves Power and returns to his family's settlement, infuriated since he has learned that his mother essentially "sold" him to Power. Ned is soon arrested and sentenced to three years in prison for shooting O'Neill. After his eventual release, Ned (now played by George MacKay) returns to his mother's house as a young man in his late teens.
During a visit to a brothel to return dresses stolen by his younger brother Dan (Earl Cave) and Dan's friend, Ned meets a prostitute who is a young Irish girl named Mary (Thomasin McKenzie), falls in love with her, and begins his first sexual relationship. Ned eventually becomes an outlaw after a visit from a local police officer, Constable Fitzpatrick (Nicholas Hoult), to the Kelly family. The constable attempts to woo Ned's younger sister Kate, to whom he has given a dress. After his mother Ellen attacks him, Fitzpatrick pulls his revolver on the family and Ned shoots him in the hand to defend them. Warrants for the arrest of Ned and his younger brother Dan are issued.
Ned and Dan hide out in the hills (which, in reality, were in northeast Victoria), and are joined by their friends Steve Hart (Louis Hewison) and Ned's close mate Joe Byrne (Sean Keenan). They later become known as the Kelly Gang, as Ned more and more assumes the role of leader. Kelly's mother is arrested along with her baby daughter and imprisoned in Melbourne as enticement for Ned to gi