Picnic at Hanging Rock

Peter Weir's enigmatic and haunting 1975 film Picnic at Hanging Rock helped put Australian cinema on the international map. Many believed it was based on a true story, but it was actually adapted from a 1967 novel by Joan Lindsay, telling the entirely fictional story of three schoolgirls and a governess who go missing during a field trip on Valentine's Day in 1900. This six-part 2018 Australian miniseries expands on Weir's film, with the first episode concluding with the disappearance, followed by the series slipping into flashbacks to explore the characters who are brought together in the finishing school created by headmistress Hester Appleyard (Natalie Dormer of Game of Thrones). Dormer is superb as the controlling yet protective Appleyard, a British woman who (like many before her) recreated herself in Australia, and whose identity and agency is threatened when her past comes back to haunt her. Lily Sullivan, Samara Weaving, Madeleine Madden, and Inez Curro play students in the school, exploring their suppressed sexuality in the straightjacket of Victorian society recreated in this arid Australian world. Much of the narrative focuses on class and race (Madden, the sole Aboriginal student in this otherwise white society, has limited options compared to her moneyed schoolmates). Well-acted and beautifully shot—with an eerie atmosphere created with surreal imagery and disorienting camera angles and compositions—this is a compelling drama that should have wide appeal. Extras include cast and crew interviews and behind-the-scenes footage. Recommended. (S. Axmaker)