The Castle is a social case study on the everyday life and struggles of the Australian suburb communities. Darryl is a dedicated family man who thinks he is carving out a piece of the Australian dream for his family. His dream is however short-lived when reality sets in. Forced to come to terms with the situation, he chooses to face it the best way he knows how, blissfully.
Darryl portrays a stereotypical Australian man who is unhealthily focused on providing for his family. He is willing to go to the extremes and sometimes fight against forces that are beyond his capability.
Despite the odds stacked against him, Darryl's ignorance provides him a blissful time to survive his misfortunes long enough to find hope. Darryl is clearly incompetent in a number of areas. He lives ignorantly, and his family follows him into it without question. This highlights the pitfalls of a patriarchal system that dooms everyone else in the family. The only reason they won the case was because Darryl was lucky enough to come across Lawrence, who had a greater insight into the Australian constitution.
The Castle is comic gold as it showcases its characters in full light and ridiculous personalities. Despite Darryl's incompetence, you can find solace in the humor and forget for a second that the family is about to lose everything they hold dear. The film is culturally relevant in Australia to this day as it continues to challenge the unresolved issues of land ownership and the unequal social class that plague the Australian people.
