ELLIE & ABBIE (& ELLIE'S DEAD AUNT)
***
Director: Monica Zanetti
Screenwriter: Monica Zanetti
Principal cast:
Sophie Hawkshaw
Zoe Terakes
Marta Dusseldorp
Julie Billington
Rachel House
Bridie Connell
Country: Australia
Classification: MA15+
Runtime: 84 mins.
Australian release date: 19 November 2020.
Here’s a gee whiz fact: when Monica Zanetti’s Ellie & Abbie (& Ellie's Dead Aunt) had its world premiere at this year’s Mardi Gras Film Festival, it was the first time an Australian film had opened the Festival in its 27-year history! It makes you wonder why, when there have been so many excellent gay-themed Aussie movies over the years, films like The Adventures Of Priscilla, Queen Of The Desert, The Sum Of Us, Head On and Holding The Man, to name just a few. The director and screenwriter originally penned her work as a play in 2017 before reworking it into a movie script and it functions well as a work of cinema, never revealing its theatrical roots. A lesbian coming out and coming-of-age rom com, it’s an unusual plot but one not before time, and it is delightful to see these young characters struggling with the usual problems of growing up but not having to battle with their families and peers about being gay. How refreshing!
Ellie (Sophie Hawkshaw) lives with her single mum Erica (a terrific Marta Dusseldorp) in Sydney. She’s an A-student and a bit of a nerd – for example, her room is plastered with posters proclaiming inspirational sayings which she repeats each morning as she heads off to class. In her final year of high-school, her biggest problem is how to deal with her burgeoning crush on school-mate Abbie (Zoe Terakes), not because she’s gay but because she’s awkward and shy as kids of that age usually are. Ellie’s plan is to ask Abbie to the school formal but first she has to come out to her mum. When she does, Erica isn’t quite as full of enthusiasm as her daughter was hoping, so Ellie flounces off to the bathroom where - out of the blue - she is joined by a strange woman, who declares “I’m your Fairy Godmother!” This is Tara (Julie Billington), Erica’s lesbian activist sister who was killed in a hit-and-run accident many years ago, and she’s back from the dead to guide Ellie through the process of coming out. As is the nature of these tropes, only Ellie can see Tara but her sudden arrival in the teen’s life raises a lot of issues that Erica has been avoiding.
Strong performances all round, plus a nuanced script, make up for other shortcomings in Ellie & Abbie (& Ellie’s Dead Aunt). Hawkshaw is very good conveying the emotions of a self-conscious, often tongue-tied, schoolgirl caught between blurting out every emotion and withdrawing into her shell. Non-binary actor Terakes, who featured in season three of Janet King and joined the cast of Wentworth last year, is also excellent as a teenager who’s a bit more advanced in the LGBTQI world but still has her demons to battle. Expect to see a lot more of both of these performers in the future. Dusseldorp is always very good in whatever role she plays and her Erica is no exception. The part is a bit of a departure for her because of its semi-comedic nature, even though, as Ellie’s mum, she’s having to navigate some sensitive material. Erica is always a little unsure if she’s saying or doing the right thing and you can see this doubt in Dusseldorp’s facial expressions. A couple of supporting characters are worth mentioning, too: Rachel House as Tara’s ex and Erica’s sounding board, and Bridie Connell as Miss Trimble, a teacher at the girls’ high-school. She has great comic timing in a small but funny role. The shortfalls are the unnecessarily intrusive music and a plot-point involving Tara’s demise that seems to just peter out, without going anywhere or adding anything. It’s a pity because both of these concerns would have been quite easy to correct.
Zanetti says that she made Ellie & Abbie (& Ellie’s Dead Aunt) because, “There are so many excellent Queer films out there that I enjoy, for example Blue Is The Warmest Colour, but there are almost none that I could sit down and watch with my family”. Well, now there is one; she’s succeeded in making a warm-hearted, funny, sensitive film about coming out that anyone would be happy to see with their mum.
Screenwriter: Monica Zanetti
Principal cast:
Sophie Hawkshaw
Zoe Terakes
Marta Dusseldorp
Julie Billington
Rachel House
Bridie Connell
Country: Australia
Classification: MA15+
Runtime: 84 mins.
Australian release date: 19 November 2020.
Here’s a gee whiz fact: when Monica Zanetti’s Ellie & Abbie (& Ellie's Dead Aunt) had its world premiere at this year’s Mardi Gras Film Festival, it was the first time an Australian film had opened the Festival in its 27-year history! It makes you wonder why, when there have been so many excellent gay-themed Aussie movies over the years, films like The Adventures Of Priscilla, Queen Of The Desert, The Sum Of Us, Head On and Holding The Man, to name just a few. The director and screenwriter originally penned her work as a play in 2017 before reworking it into a movie script and it functions well as a work of cinema, never revealing its theatrical roots. A lesbian coming out and coming-of-age rom com, it’s an unusual plot but one not before time, and it is delightful to see these young characters struggling with the usual problems of growing up but not having to battle with their families and peers about being gay. How refreshing!
Ellie (Sophie Hawkshaw) lives with her single mum Erica (a terrific Marta Dusseldorp) in Sydney. She’s an A-student and a bit of a nerd – for example, her room is plastered with posters proclaiming inspirational sayings which she repeats each morning as she heads off to class. In her final year of high-school, her biggest problem is how to deal with her burgeoning crush on school-mate Abbie (Zoe Terakes), not because she’s gay but because she’s awkward and shy as kids of that age usually are. Ellie’s plan is to ask Abbie to the school formal but first she has to come out to her mum. When she does, Erica isn’t quite as full of enthusiasm as her daughter was hoping, so Ellie flounces off to the bathroom where - out of the blue - she is joined by a strange woman, who declares “I’m your Fairy Godmother!” This is Tara (Julie Billington), Erica’s lesbian activist sister who was killed in a hit-and-run accident many years ago, and she’s back from the dead to guide Ellie through the process of coming out. As is the nature of these tropes, only Ellie can see Tara but her sudden arrival in the teen’s life raises a lot of issues that Erica has been avoiding.
Strong performances all round, plus a nuanced script, make up for other shortcomings in Ellie & Abbie (& Ellie’s Dead Aunt). Hawkshaw is very good conveying the emotions of a self-conscious, often tongue-tied, schoolgirl caught between blurting out every emotion and withdrawing into her shell. Non-binary actor Terakes, who featured in season three of Janet King and joined the cast of Wentworth last year, is also excellent as a teenager who’s a bit more advanced in the LGBTQI world but still has her demons to battle. Expect to see a lot more of both of these performers in the future. Dusseldorp is always very good in whatever role she plays and her Erica is no exception. The part is a bit of a departure for her because of its semi-comedic nature, even though, as Ellie’s mum, she’s having to navigate some sensitive material. Erica is always a little unsure if she’s saying or doing the right thing and you can see this doubt in Dusseldorp’s facial expressions. A couple of supporting characters are worth mentioning, too: Rachel House as Tara’s ex and Erica’s sounding board, and Bridie Connell as Miss Trimble, a teacher at the girls’ high-school. She has great comic timing in a small but funny role. The shortfalls are the unnecessarily intrusive music and a plot-point involving Tara’s demise that seems to just peter out, without going anywhere or adding anything. It’s a pity because both of these concerns would have been quite easy to correct.
Zanetti says that she made Ellie & Abbie (& Ellie’s Dead Aunt) because, “There are so many excellent Queer films out there that I enjoy, for example Blue Is The Warmest Colour, but there are almost none that I could sit down and watch with my family”. Well, now there is one; she’s succeeded in making a warm-hearted, funny, sensitive film about coming out that anyone would be happy to see with their mum.