Picnic at Hanging Rock Season One (2018) Review
On Valentine’s Day 1900, a group of schoolgirls from Appleyard College take a day trip to dark and brooding Hanging Rock. When three girls and their governess go missing during the picnic, the event rocks not just the school, but the whole town. Theories abound, dangerous secrets are exposed and hysteria sets in, until eventually, the lives of all involved unravel.
Adapting Joan Lindsay’s classic 1967 novel of the same name could have been a rather foolhardy affair. After all there has already been an acclaimed big-screen interpretation, courtesy of renowned director Peter Weir that, quite rightly, has constantly received acclaim from both critics and audiences since it was first released theatrically back in 1975. However where Weir’s film was a methodically slow, atmospheric and eerie affair, this TV adaptation is more in keeping with modern tastes but looses none of the tension or mystery by quickening the pace.
This TV ‘reimagining’ offers up back stories to key characters, fleshing them out in a way that the landmark film opted not to, but as with the film there’s same-sex sexual shenanigans that are often left deliciously ambiguous – on a personal note I would have lusted after the hunky gardener too. Heading up an excellent cast, Natalie Dormer (Game of Thrones) steals the show every time she appears onscreen. I found her performance as headmistress Mrs Hester Appleyard mesmerising, multi-layered and utterly intoxicating.
There are six episodes of nearly an hour’s viewing apiece and chances are that you will binge-watch this in an evening’s viewing. It’s exquisitely photographed (although the camera constantly zooming in on scenes does become a little wearing) and is head-and-shoulders above a lot of the mediocrity that is offered up as entertainment on TV nowadays. And before I finish, for those amongst you that consider that the source material was based upon an actual incident brace yourselves, the story actually came to the author in a dream, not from real-life, so now you know.