The Dressmaker

Directed by Jocelyn Moorhouse

Based on the novel by Rosalie Ham

Starring Kate Winslet, Liam Hemsworth, Judy Davis, Hugo Weaving

Review by Jordan

The Dressmaker is Shakespeare told via the dusty outcrops of rural ‘50’s Australia.

When the well-travelled (nay, exiled) Tilly Dunnage (Kate Winslet) returns home to the insular outback town of Dungatar, she brings with her not only haute couture and the ability to entrance footballers like the song of the siren, but also the intent of a femme fatale, whose desire to uncover the mysteries of her tragic past is weighed down by her little-explored but obviously troubling (and bleakly amusing) childhood curse. Tilly’s relationship with her reclusive, alcoholic mother Molly (Judy Davis in an excellent performance) bears the scars of intimate lies and an innate desire to rectify them, and reluctant connection to rugged local Teddy (Hemsworth) shows a capacity to escape her emotional…