The Lost Flowers of Alice Hart, directed by Glendyn Ivin

When Alice Hart was nine years old her parents died in a house fire that she may have started. She goes to live with her paternal grandmother, a stranger, on a flower farm that also serves as a refuge for women escaping violence. Domestic abuse and childhood trauma underpin this twisty tale that very clearly shows how coercive control leads to major damage and how difficult it can be to leave. The first three episodes feature Alice as a child before skipping forward 14 years to when she starts to uncover secrets and lies that have affected her life. She strikes out on her own but can’t escape her past, rooted in a matriarchal dynasty that communicates through native flowers. The incredible cast features Sigourney Weaver, Leah Purcell and Tilda Cobham-Hervey and it is fun to see Asher Keddie and Alexander England reunited as a very different sort of couple from their Offspring adventures. Intense and dark, the series does not shy away from an awful reality for many women and children. it is also quite beautiful, set in evocative landscapes with images that linger. While the female characters are complex and nuanced, the males are much less so but it is not their story.