Rachel Ward’s recently released, Beautiful Kate, another Australian gem, is definitely worth a look. Like a boomerang, the perpetual return of Ben Mendelsohn, Bryan Brown and Rachel Griffiths, matches the rural landscape of this iconic Australian film.

Ned, writer and philanderer elopes with girlfriend, Toni (Maeve Dermody) to his family home in the deep country side of Wollumbi. One can’t help but wonder how a trip to the quiet life of the country is going to merit an interesting story, but Beautiful Kate certainly achieves this in spades.

The tension of Ned’s return, strains his present relationships and provides vivid flash-backs of his past including the enigma of his twin sister Kate and older brother. As Ned begins to scribe his return home, it becomes clear that his character flaws all stem from traumatic events on the property when he was there last and strongly suggest that is why he left.

The flash-backs reveal a close and abnormally sexual bond between Kate and Ned as teenagers. Cleverly paced with the narrative in the present, Ned and Toni’s relationship suffers as she learns about his dark secrets. On top of this, Ned’s father, played by Bryan Brown is dying and while looked after by younger sister, Sally, it is plain father and son need to repair their relationship.

Yet another cheery family drama (of course that was sarcasm), Beautiful Kate, presents the nightmarish past of Ned with sweeping shots of dusty properties, earthy dams, natural lighting and the effervescence of youth in it’s photogenic cast. To provide a little more encouragement to potential viewers, the beginning and end is more positive than not, which is why the majority is dark. You won’t leave feeling distraught. So go and see it, if not to remind you of how BEAUTIFUL this country is.