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While its theme of family and small town secrets may echo other dramas, Sandra Sciberras's debut film is lifted by quality performances from the ensemble of experienced actors she's utilised.
Three generations of talent are on display in the film, attractively shot on fresh and interesting locations around the coastal town of Robe in South Australia.
At the centre of the story of a schoolgirl's determination to discover the identity of her biological father are Susie Porter, giving the best performance of her career, and newcomer Victoria Thaine as mother and daughter, Susan and Emily Woodbridge.
Emily's birth 17 years earlier, when Susan was just 15 years old, has estranged the couple from their closest relatives, Susan's mother and father (Elspeth Ballantyne and Bruce Myles, representing the senior actors).
All topless barmaid Susan has told her daughter about her father's identity is that he was a "tom cat" tourist, passing through the resort town one summer, and destined never to return.
Emily's passion is photography, snapping candid profiles of mostly men, hoping that one of the images she randomly captures might be that of her real-life father.
Mother and daughter aren't the only ones in this town suffering emotional problems.
Stephen (Robert Mammone), who has a boat business down at the harbour, is still trying to recover from the death of his wife and baby daughter. The senior policeman Carl (Phillip Quast, showing his acting versatility away from his more familiar musical theatre work) and his wife, Elizabeth (Wendy Hughes), have a stressful relationship, most of it to do with Carl's affairs conducted with little discretion.
When Emily discovers a Bible carrying an inscription that reveals it once belonged to her mother, she becomes absolutely determined to confront the grandparents she's never met and discover who her father was.
The teenager is tasting first love herself, with a relationship with Carl's son Joel (Khan Chittenden). There might be some distressing complications for the young couple.
Sciberras, who wrote the screenplay as well as directing the film, gives the picture a well-modulated pace that ensures the story's myriad plot lines do draw a viewer in, and hold your attention.
Despite the heavy emotion involved in the interaction between the characters, there's a gentle rhythm to the movie that works in its favour.
Only at the very end do its Oz Peyton Place revelations become less plausible. Mature audiences wanting to see Australian drama on the big screen rather than comic book heroes and special effects-driven pictures should find this home-grown effort fulfilling.
© Queensland Newspapers
