Teenager Milla Finlay (Eliza Scanlen) has terminal cancer; when she meets a charismatic 23-year-old drug addict (Toby Wallace), her parents (Essie Davis, Ben Mendelsohn) are less than thrilled. This was the director’s first feature film, but she found a way to turn a stage play into a cinematic experience with a visual look that stands on its own, closely following Milla and letting us share her journey and emotions, highs and lows. Her parents and their issues are not equally well captured, but this tremendous cast elevate the drama, including Wallace, equally convincing as someone who’s irresistible to a teenage girl and a threat to every parent.
2020-Australia. 118 min. Color. Produced by Alex White. Directed by Shannon Murphy. Screenplay, Play: Rita Kalnejais. Cast: Eliza Scanlen (Milla Finlay), Toby Wallace (Moses), Essie Davis (Anna Finlay), Ben Mendelsohn (Henry Finlay), Emily Barclay, Eugene Gilfedder.
Last word: “It’s funny because I actually started my theatre directing career at the theatre company where the play was on, but I missed that show. So by the time the script came to me it was seven years after the play and I didn’t want to read the play and I didn’t want to watch the archival video because I didn’t want to be influenced by it. But once I finished all my pre-production I did go back and read the play and what I loved about it were the title chapters. I just felt that they helped you move through time in a more interesting way and allowed it to play on memory but also the sense of not having to be prescriptive about what day it was, where she is in her journey, like finding it quite frustrating but the point is you have to move through.” (Murphy, Little White Lies)