Worth: $14.50
FilmInk rates movies out of $20 — the score indicates the amount we believe a ticket to the movie to be worth
Cast:
Sigourney Weaver, Asher Keddie, Leah Purcell, Alyla Browne, Frankie Adams, Alycia Debnam-Carey, Tilda Cobham-Hervey, Alexander England, Charlie Vickers, Maggie Dence
Intro:
… calm but powerful, with an authentic voice at its heart.
An adaptation of Australian author Holly Ringland’s compelling novel, The Lost Flowers of Alice Hart tells the story of nine-year-old Alice, who moves to her estranged grandmother’s flower farm after a catastrophic fire changes her life forever.
Brought to the screen by showrunner Sarah Lambert and director Glendyn Ivin, Alice’s story is a confronting tale of overcoming abuse and the trauma of domestic violence through the tender bonds formed between survivors, and the shared secret language of native flowers.
Ringland’s bittersweet novel translates into a vividly evocative screenplay with mesmerising performances, including a powerful turn from Alyla Browne who brings a depth of vulnerability to young Alice, despite spending much of her screen time silent due to her character’s selective mutism.
When casting tough and laconic Australian farmer June, Sigourney Weaver is hardly the obvious choice, but she does justice to the role, and—surprisingly—the accent, despite how notoriously difficult the Aussie twang has proven to be for Americans in the past.
Exploring the darkest shadows of suffering alongside the promising flicker of light as Alice slowly reinvents herself, the moody atmosphere highlights the natural beauty of the rural Australian setting. Set against a landscape that evokes both breathtaking wonder and endless isolation, cinematographer Sam Chiplin (The Stranger, Penguin Bloom) works wonders with a palette of contrasts, flame and flowers providing a riot of intense colour against the vast remoteness of country Australia.
A captivating study of breaking free from the cycle of trauma, the series is calm but powerful, with an authentic voice at its heart. The pacing is steady, each scene slowly drawn as if catching a breath before speaking, tense and tightly wound in the moments before the emotions come spilling out. Despite its tough themes, the journey is a satisfying one, if difficult to watch at times.
