British actress Kate Winslet gets her Aussie twang on in her new film, The Dressmaker, which hit Kiwi cinemas today. It could be one of those movies that divides audiences.
Tilly Dunnage (Winslet) done wrong many years ago; now she's back to right her past, and her arrival back to Dungatar is about as welcome as blight.
Shipped off as a little girl, blamed for the death of a schoolmate, there's not a soul in town with open arms. Well, not until her flair with her Singer sewing machine is uncovered.
Suddenly all the vain wannabes of Dungatar are competing for a Dunnage make-over.
Meanwhile, the ridiculously tanned and very handsome Teddy (Liam Hemsworth) begins to woo Tilly, who for reasons no sane woman could even fathom, continues to resist him at every turn.
Around about now, or soon there-after, this film makes a very unexpected hard right turn and gallops off into darkly gothic and very comic territory, and in fact becomes an entirely different film altogether.
This will do one of two things – either bewilder and immediately annoy you, or freak you out, before delighting you at every turn.
The Dressmaker won't be for everyone, and please don't go expecting a rom-com in the Outback. Watching this mostly gentile outing morph rather magically into a subversive revenge comedy left me reeling at first, then laughing very loudly indeed.
Three-and-a-half stars.
The Dressmaker:: Director: Jocelyn Moorhouse :: Starring: Kate Winslet, Isla Fisher, Liam Hemsworth, Elizabeth Debicki, Judy Davis, Hugo Weaving, Sarah Snook, Caroline Goodall, Kerry Fox, Rebecca Gibney:: Rating: M - Violence, sexual references & offensive language:: Running Time: 119 mins:: Release Date: In cinemas now