Dead to the World

Dead to the World unfolds inside a gritty city boxing gym where two women stand at odds over who should run the place. Pearl Elkington, a seasoned trainer with a stubborn conscience and a memory of what the gym has survived, faces a rival whose plan blends grit with a sharper eye for opportunity. The film follows night workouts, whispered disagreements in the back room, and the tension that grows as control shifts from mentor to challenger. Amid the clanging ropes and chalk dust, the gym becomes a refuge and a battlefield, a place where loyalty and pride contend with the needs of a community. Lynette Curran as Pearl leads a world that also includes John Doyle and Richard Roxburgh.

Production notes for Dead to the World tie it to Australian creator Ross Gibson. Released in 1991, the film is associated with Gibson's experimental approach, though detailed director credits are not widely documented.

No reliable box office figures for Dead to the World are publicly available, making it hard to gauge its commercial reach. It appears as a little seen title within the early 1990s Australian cinema landscape.

Reception and themes: The film is a compact study of power, gender, and community ties. It centers on rival leadership styles under pressure, the role of sport as sanctuary, and how loyalty persists amid competing visions for a neighborhood gym.