Picnic At Hanging Rock

In the final decade of the 19th century, beautiful and mysterious widow Hester Appleyard (Natalie Dormer) arrives in Australia, haunted by a secret past.

Paying in cash for an isolated mansion out in the bush, she establishes a school for young ladies - and six years later, Appleyard College is a success. An enigmatic headmistress, something haunts Hester. Is it the bush - dangerous and untamed? Or is it her own secret past?

Appleyard College has three star pupils - sophisticated Irma (Samara Weaving), a Rothschild heiress, whip-smart Marion (Madeleine Madden), daughter of a High Court Justice, and rebellious tomboy Miranda (Lily Sullivan), a cattle-station princess. Their friendship ignites the magical and dangerous energy of adolescence. They resist the edicts of society.

Confronted by the unwelcome advances of a young soldier headed for the Boer War, Miranda impales his foot with a pitchfork, earning her headmistress’s contempt for her lack of self-regard. Punishing devoted young orphan Sara (Inez Curro) for Miranda’s recklessness by keeping her back from the outing, the rest of the Appleyard College ladies go on a picnic on St Valentine’s Day, 1900, with their governesses to Hanging Rock.

However, in the strange brooding landscape of Hanging Rock, something unthinkable happens... 

Pictured: Marion Quade (Madeleine Madden), Irma Leopold (Samara Weaving), Miranda Reid (Lily Sullivan)

Publicity contact: IR