This 7-episode Prime Video mini-series, adapted from the best-selling novel The Lost Flowers of Alice Hart, imposes its haunting style and dark narrative, in breathtaking Australian settings.
At 73, she finally finds a television role to match her talent and her immense career. Sigourney Weaver is madly emotionally powerful in Wildflowersa new Australian series which will be launched on Friday on Prime Video. Sarah Lambert, former star of Hartley, hearts rawwrote this fascinating adaptation of Holly Ringland’s novel, The Lost Flowers of Alice Hartand transposes it to the screen in a heartbreaking and shady family chronicle.
The story of Alice Hart is that of a 9-year-old girl bullied by a terribly brutal father. She lives recluse not far from the ocean, between a damaged mother and a violent father, who mistreats her and beats her. Alice knows only that and dreams of elsewhere. Until the day when a tragedy turns his life upside down. The little one is then taken in by a grandmother she has never seen. An impenetrable and silent horticulturist, June runs a strange boarding house in the middle of the countryside, where she hides dark secrets that Alice will discover little by little…
In the breathtaking scenery of the Australian countryside, Wildflowers capsize and take us into a whirlwind of suffering. The series was conceived as a great drama with a slow and complex narration. A deliberately posed rhythm, which takes the time to install a haunting atmosphere and a dark story, imbued with poignant and painful themes. Mourning, betrayals, motherhood, abuse, distrust… Wildflowers is a remarkable evocation of the torments that plague a family, which upsets without ever turning into heavy misery or demoralizing “trauma porn”. In addition, between the lines of the mysteries of the Hart family hides a striking essay on violence against women, a vertiginous tragedy, with powerful feminist overtones.
So the mini-series is not always easy to watch. The subject is heavy. The suffocating atmosphere. Sporadic revelations. Alice Hart’s life isn’t a carefree stroll, but Sarah Lambert’s oh-so-elegant writing is careful never to push where it hurts. The dreamlike staging, taking full advantage of the sensational Australian scenography, adds a welcome touch of lightness. Something to soften these raw hearts somewhat.
Les Fleurs Sauvages, mini-series in 7 episodes to see on Prime Video from August 4, 2023 and until September 1.
