Mary Regan Movies

A hard-partying Australian surfer who divides most of his time between catching waves and inhaling bong hits begins to feel the claustrophobia of small-town life as he experiences a sexual awakening that will change the way he views the world around him in director Ed Aldridge's sun soaked coming of age story. Midget Hollows (Jack Baxter) is a carefree teen who's content just living it up on the beach with his free-spirited friends, but when Midget's best friend's gay brother returns to town after four years traveling Europe the conflicted surfer begins to experience an attraction he never anticipated. Not only does recently returned traveler Cass exhibit a worldly confidence that betrays his small town roots -- he's also a master on the waves who isn't ashamed of his homosexuality. It isn't long before Midget and Cass are caught up in a passionate affair, though he begins to sense a fundamental incompatibility with his newfound lifestyle and the close-minded culture that he inhabits. Now, despite Midget's close bond with longtime gal pal Betty, he begins to weight the freedom of moving to a place where he can finally be himself against the deep roots he has within the community. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi

Loosely based on the real-life story of Bea Miles, an eccentric character living in Sydney, this fine Australian drama tells the tragic tale of Lilian Singer, a woman whose cruel father placed her in a mental institution where she spent forty years. The story looks at the circumstances surrounding her commitment as a young woman, her childhood and life after she is finally released. In the opening scenes, Lilian leaves the asylum and is taken to a seedy downtown hotel frequented by prostitutes and other shady characters. Fortunately, the working girls prove friendly and sympathetic. Lilian becomes convinced that she is in love with a stodgy bank manager, but her love abruptly dies when he calls the police upon her. She next meets her long-lost lover Frank, who has unfortunately turned into an alcoholic and is unable to respond to her. As Lilian has more experiences, flashbacks gradually reveal the terrible things her father did to her. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi

Belinda (Deanne Jeffs) is a 16-year-old Australian girl who wants to become a ballerina. To make ends meet, she takes a job as an exotic dancer in a scrungy Sydney cabaret. Eventually she is able to pursue her original goal, but not before experiencing (and enduring) humanity at both its best and worst. Director/writer Pamela Gibbons reportedly based Belinda on her own early life. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

The life of a teen in an isolated small town is the subject of Australian writer/director John Duigan's film, set in 1962 in New South Wales. Duigan's coming-of-age story has many familiar elements -- Danny Embling (Noah Taylor) discovers his sexual attraction to a childhood playmate (Leone Carmen as Freya), he undergoes the taunts of bullies at his school, rages against the narrow-minded views of his parents and many of the townspeople, and comes under the influence of a sympathetic adult (Bruce Spence as Jonah, a would-be writer who lives in an abandoned railroad car). The twist is that Danny's rival for Freya's affections, Trevor (Ben Mendelsohn), is a Jewish jock who becomes Danny's friend by standing up to the bullies and treating Freya with more respect than the other boys do. Duigan, who had been making films in Australia since the mid-'70s, broke through to U.S. audiences with this film and its sequel, Flirting, in which Noah Taylor reprises the lead role. ~ Tom Wiener, Rovi

Dramatically set against New Zealand's North Island scenery, this uneven but well-acted story is about Cathy (Mary Regan) -- a woman trapped in an incestual relationship with her father (Terence Cooper) on a remote sheep farm -- and a drifter named Daley (Bruno Lawrence) who arrives there looking for work. Daley soon develops an interest in Cathy, who is aloof and remote, and he does not understand why. When he does realize what is wrong, he and Cathy make a crucial decision that is bound to end in violence. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, Rovi