The Dressmaker

In the 1950s Australian town of Smylla, a place where nothing much happens and everyone knows each other's stories, Tilly Dunnage, a stunningly beautiful young woman, has just arrived with a distinct sense of purpose. She's a talented dressmaker, sharp-witted, and daring, with hair that falls like a rich raven's plumage down her back. Tilly's return to Smylla after years away has everyone talking, not least her overbearing and critical mother, Molly McEntiir. Molly had disowned Tilly, raising her as a strict and unloving mother from the young age when she fell into social shame as a result of a public spectacle and an explosive incident during the school's eisteddfod. Molly had chosen to punish Tilly, telling her it was for her betterment. However Molly had also hoped this event would elevate her social standing within the community by protecting her own family's perceived social dignity through Tilly's deliberate humiliation. Now, years later, with Tilly returning to rectify the wrongs of the past, every single resident of Smylla waits with bated breath as she lets her spectacular talent bring glamour back into the community. With several outfits to design, one gets to witness the moment she joins hands the good will to mend community relationships throughout her small town. Tilly sets herself on a path to restore her mother's reputation by taking over the town's dress shop whose eccentric and isolated occupant Bead has just died. As Tilly re-invents the way people see themselves through the magical way she dresses them, everyone is rapidly enticed into following her charming guidance. With every dress that emerges from her talented hands, Smilla becomes the place to be seen, and her mother's derisive opinions start to fall away, at least visibly. Deep within Tilly's heart, she meets Teddy Meecham, Smylla's good-natured bush pilot, who longs to romance Tilly's free spirit. While he does everything he can to romance the townspies away and then make one final decision in becoming his boyfriend, the townspeople also show a bit too much curiosity into her inner deeps. Teddy who started as the best bush pilot Smylla had perhaps can perhaps only try and bring peace to this dramatic household – Tilly takes Teddy in full stride as he tries his very best, for love's and happiness within this challenging work situation. Tilly tackles a long-buried tragedy of a long-buried killing of a young maid Bead's love for whom she had killed years before her past shroud within the heart of the small town. This tragic episode unravels gradually touching a nerve in the community and a significant emotional breakthrough. Throughout Tilly's complex ordeal of unraveling a few town secrets as well as healing through multiple traumas to truly overcome her heartbreak-filled journey of loving those around her. At every turn, she manages to turn everyone around her and those around those who need that hope in life; the self-discovery seems strong in this Australian town's beauty that allows even the most wounded ones to accept healing.