A young girl, Alice Hart [Browne], was raised in a turbulent house hold with a talented carpenter father [Vickers] who also carries memories of a dark past. After her parents die in a fire, she is moved to live with her grandmother [Weaver] who lives in a flower farm that also cares for abused women. The young girl learns that specific flowers and plants are used to communicate through patterns of colorful collection, creating their own language that is often openly displayed. As she enters adulthood [Debham-Carey], she learns that her grandmother has many dark secrets of her own, that are hidden in detailed file folders and shelved away in a dark room. But, she cannot escape the fact that some bad family traits can carry one from one generation to another, which forces her to confront the worst in some people.
THE GOOD - There are some outstanding, dramatic performances in this series that demands attention through award nominations. The little girl [Browne] does a fantastic job in her first major role, carrying the character of young Alice through some very stressful and dramatic sequences, presented an emotionally weathered down pre-teen stumbling through life. Weaver was also mentally weathered and trudging through the series, slowly aging but delivering a powerful performance as Alice's grandmother. The lighting and sound were perfectly arranged, delivering a well balanced production. Location spotting was marvelously selected and there isn't any part of the production that felt off kilter at all. Kudos to the majority of the Australian cast who had some standout performances throughout the series, possibly a strength garnered through the addition of Weaver's presence.
THE BAD - Like most books, the back story to the series takes a long time to develop. There are some "stock footage" scenes between the story telling that were filmed as filler that just seem to slow things down to a point where the real power to the feel of the film gets lost. One plot in the film seems to have been filmed on a coastline that seems a little out of place to the lush lands of rolling fields that are home to the flower garden - I don't know the terrain that can be found in Australia, so maybe I'm just seeing something in this part of the film that is natural to the coastline landscape.
POST MORTEM - This is a sensational series. It was hard to see what was coming up next in the dark tale that was slowly spinning out of control. When the climax hits its mark, the pain is felt and the scene unfolds with turbulent excellence, something that every director hopes for in their films. I highly recommend you watch this series without interruption. This series is a winner!
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️[5 of 5 Stars]
