In the original short story on which this frontier movie is based the wife isn’t even named. She’s a remote figure waiting for the return of her sheep drover-husband in 1893 Australia. Reconceptualized by Aussie playwright Leah Purcell the saga now has a feminist bent. Adapting her popular play to the screen, the wife has stepped out of the shadow, her name emblazoned in the title. Purcell appears as Molly, a heavily pregnant frontier wife struggling in the Snowy Mountain ranges, a gaggle of kids at her heels and no husband in sight.

The drama intensifies when an indigenous man wanders onto her property and is revealed to be wanted for murder. A vibrant addition to the history of the Australian western.

Australia 2021 (109 minutes)

Sponsor: Austrialian Consulate General San Francisco