In 1950s Australia, young Celia is growing up with a sense of isolation and mistrust of the world that surrounds her. Her mother and father won't let her play with the kids next door because their parents are communists. Then her pet bunny is taken away because of rabbit overpopulation. And, more traumatizing yet, when her grandmother dies, she's the one to discover the corpse. To cope, she retreats into elaborate fantasies.
Acting
Rebecca Smart's feral, luminous performance
Direction
Turner's seamless blend of fantasy and horror
Cinematography
Sunny suburbia that curdles into nightmare
Director
Ann Turner
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
Made during Australia's 1950s communist witch-hunt revival, the rabbit plague references real myxomatosis culling that devastated pet owners.
The Hobyah creature design came from director Ann Turner's own childhood nightmares; Rebecca Smart was so terrified she couldn't look at the puppet between takes.
AU
