User Reviews

My Review- The Lost Flowers of Alice Hart Streaming on Amazon Prime My Rating 8/10

Based on the international best selling novel of the same name which I haven't read by Holly Ringland who is a writer, storyteller, and television presenter this seven part series apparently extends the characters involvement and the landscape depicted in the novel.

From the beginning of Part One one titled Black Fire Orchid it was obvious to me that the elements of nature Earth Wind and especially Fire would be a vital component of this series as well as the Australian native botanical motifs that every episode is named after including Wattle, Lantern Bush, River Lily, Desert Oak ,Wheel of Fire and Sturt's Desert Pea .

For me The Lost Flowers of Alice Hart's strength is in it's visual imagery as well as it's emotional intensity and while any series or movie has to be visual to a degree to succeed the camerawork of Sam Chiplin the cinematographer and his team is exceptional in capturing the red desert outback scenes as well as the glorious flower gardens of Thornfield Flower Farm where June Hart the austere Grandmother of Alice Hart provides a refuge for her human flowers all the victims of domestic violence and injury both mental and physical that they have experienced by male perpetrators .

I won't spoil the plot as it needs to unfold except to say the title of the 1996 film Secrets and Lies comes to mind .

Young Alice Hart played so intelligently by Alyla Browne through horrendous circumstances as the result of a devastating homestead fire is taken to her Grandmother's flower farm Thornfield which is a totally male free environment not by accident but by design.

Sigourney Weaver is mesmerising as her Grandmother June Hart who's overprotective but well intended manipulation and deceit regarding who has access to young Alice becomes more understandable as the series progresses.

The entire ensemble cast are equally impressive especially Asher Keddie as Sally Morgan who like every character in this series has secrets and lies that directly affect Alice Hart. Asher Keddie's character is the polar opposite to June Hart she is a generous warm hearted woman who also wants and is entitled to a part in Alice's life but is thawted at every turn by Grandmother June.

A lot of scenes feature the residents of Thornfield flower farm a standout performance for me is from Leah Purcell as Twig .

Twig is June Hart's significant other they have a common bond of love and loss . However Twig eventually comes to the realisation that June has intentionally deceived Alice and when the now grown Alice leaves Thornfield after finding out that her Grandmother has lied to her Twig also leaves .

Adult Alice Hart is beautifully cast with Alycia Debnam-Carey who portrays this vulnerable adult child a product of inter generational domestic violence and dysfunction that so often is repeated until if lucky , the victim realises the pattern of violence is being repeated by their attraction to partners who repeat the same chain of abuse .

Truth telling or the results of not truth telling is a vital part of this story and there is a very strong thread of our First Nations culture in The Lost Flowers Alice Hart especially in the stunning outback locations .

The symbolism of Fire and the regeneration of life that we see after severe bush fires came to me in the positive changes that occur in all the damaged characters after the truth is revealed to each one and the process of forgiveness and acceptance takes place after the emotional burns they have experienced.

My only small criticism of this seven part series is my usual rant about its length I would have condensed it to four or five episodes plus the continuity for me was at times confusing especially when after episode 3 Alice has suddenly aged at least ten years in episode four I had to watch episode 3 twice as to be honest I did doze off and lost the plot a little.

I know the trend now is flashback scenes to answer plot questions but I personally prefer a reasonably flowing narrative timeline.

Already this series has been incredibly successful worldwide reaching the top five in 78 countries, and top 3 in 42 countries, since its launch in August .

The series locations include Harwood Island and the small town of Ulmarra in the Clarence River Delta in New South Wales plus the beautiful outback scenes that were filmed west of Alice Springs at Janglay Waterhole and Standley Chasm a spectacular gorge within the West MacDonnell National Park. Thornfield, the women's farm where wildflowers bloom, is actually the historic Bickham homestead at Blandford in the Hunter Valley near the towns of Scone and Murrurundi.

There is a warning before each episode about behaviour that may be triggering and I was reminded about my personal childhood trauma regarding domestic violence as a few of the scenes do portray explicit alcohol violence but I'm so glad I stuck with these beautiful flowers to the end of the series.

The first three episodes I liked.

There's a little girl trying to cope.

Worked, because little girls don't understand the world.

There was heartache and intrigue.

It was very obvious from the start what Gramma's trauma was, still waiting on what made her son violent, though. Disappointment because he wouldn't get the farm? Erm... Because he was badly patented when he had sex with a young girl? Maybe.

Don't tell me it's supposed to be bad genes - that is lame AND wrong. Then rather cause of missing male role models.

Then, in ep 4, we jump 14 years and the plot gets generic and boring. Everything is obvious. Everything.

The only good thing is how well the controlling and gaslighting is described, the actor is spot in, likeable, nice, sweet, apologetic, etc.

But that she would fall for such a guy, after growing up in a woman's shelter??? That would only be possible if they NEVER talked about ANYthing - and that is lame, and stupid, and boring, at least to me.

If the dog is killed in ep 7 I will not forgive it.

Will probably all stand around gramma's grave united, amen and goodbye, take the safe vet, grow some flowers to MAKE you actually strong and one as a truth serum. And stop lying everybody. Geez.

The theme of domestic violence dominates this beautifully crafted mini-series along with stolen generation endured by Aborigines. The racism issue is just in the right amount without it becoming too preachy. The scene where Twig (Purcell) shares a tender moment with other Aboriginal women grieving for her loss is very effective. More of this please instead of the 'white people invaded our country' lecturing.

The complex stories of June, Agnes, Alice, Candy Blue, Twig and Sarah are brought together through their connection to Clem, June's violent son. Weaver does a good job as the matriarch running a flower farm that is also a refuge for women (called flowers) who have escaped domestic violence. Hats off to her for trying to grasp the elusive Australian accent.

Agnes (Cobham-Hervey) is June's daughter-in-law whom the matriarch inadvertently played a role in her demise when June encouraged the courtship with Clem (Vickers) and in marriage, continue to suffer abuse. Her presence is limited but she does deliver as the suffering wife/mother who tries to protect her daughter Alice.

Alyla Browne as young Alice is incredible as the victim of abuse. She captures the innocence, fear and happiness all on her face, especially in her eyes. Alycia Debnam-Carey struggles a little as the grown up Alice because the script thins out from episodes 4 to 6. She runs away from the farm after discovering the secret that June had Oggi (Bennett) deported to Bulgaria so she wouldn't lose Alice to him - this storyline is rather weak. Alice arrives at 'Agnes Bluff' and finds a job as a park ranger where she meets Dylan (Zurita) and falls for him. In between her job, she parties with her colleagues and sees a lot of outback country. Meanwhile Dylan's true character unfolds itself in a predictable kind of way.

The stories are strong enough to stand on their own so there is no need for a lot of the arty inserts. The amount of ariel shots of rugged and beautiful Australiana must have added up to half an episode's worth. The scenes explaining the langauge of flowers should have been emphasised more but they got lost amongst the dozens of ariel shots, music/dance clips and long dreamy sequences, it's all too much and disjointed. Then there are details that are factually inaccurate that should not have been included for the sake of creating impact. Sarah (Keddie) being able to walk freely right into the hospital room where Clem's bagged body lies. Or June's box of evidence of her grandson, Charlie's survival made up of letters and medical records from the hospital's neonatal ICU is just clutching at straws. No medical insitution will ever allow patients or relatives access to medical records, let alone giving them out as keepsakes, period.

The writers did a good job showing the horrors and consequences of domestic violence but they waded a little too much in sending a message that a lot of men are violent or have the potential to be as shown by June's overall reaction to and perception of men, in particular her son and grandson. Yes, she did suffer at the hands of men but this prejudice that violent nature can be passed on to the point she cuts Charlie out of her life when she could have tried to get to know him to understand that he's nothing like Clem, does nothing to help the cause. She's punishing all men regardless.

In June's final narrative she calls for women to speak out so men will not get to "rewrite history or erase women" but it's not as simple as that when there are women who also perpetuates and excuses violent behaviour such as the female senior park ranger siding with Dylan after he attacks Alice because he's good in his job and would be hard to replace. Or that Agnes did next to nothing to protect young Alice and even Lulu (Awosoga) not warning Alice of Dylan's controlling nature until she finds out the hard way. Glaringly obvious is June not checking in on Agnes and Alice when she had suffered Clem's violent outburst herself.

To stop domestic violence, everyone regardless of gender or race need to do their part instead of being a silent bystander wishing it would all go away because it's too hard. It's not just about speaking out but it's also about breaking the chain of violence or preventing it from happening.

Watch the first couple of episodes when Alice Heart is still a little girl. The show's great, interesting, wonderful performances, engaging story - until Alice grows up and turns into a most annoying Mary Sue. I stopped watching after ep 4. Weaver's performance is, of course, perfect and is what kept me going through ep 4. The young Alice actress is really amazing as well, especially given the very dark topics her charahas to deal with.

The story before the time jump is somewhat cohesive and a few questions are answered. The overall mystery was not enough, however, to make me endure the abysmal main character.