With powerful performances, series The Lost Flowers of Alice Hart sure tugs at the heart’s strings

Nonika Singh

It begins with a perfect family portrait of a loving husband, pregnant wife and a lovely daughter. Soon there is hint of darkness…a massive tragedy ensues and skeletons of family secrets spill out, taking us to a tale of love, loss and domestic abuse.

Set in the heart of a flower farm owned by Alice Hart’s grandmother June Hart, the story unpeels in layers. Bit by bit we are drawn into their moving story, which is compelling and haunting. June’s farm is a refuge for battered women. As she helps them piece together the broken parts of their lives, at one level it is a story of misogyny and abuse, at another of empowerment, but above all of human relationships that can be at once complicated, messy yet loving.

What forces a mother, June Hart, to lose all contact with her only son Clem, disown and finally own up her granddaughter Alice? The matrix of familial ties as well as societal microcosm is laid out rather engagingly and tellingly. Mystery lurks around the corners and with each new episode, we are led into yet another layer and a secret.

Based on a book by the same name written by Holly Ringland, the series is set amidst the verdant and diverse landscapes of Australia. And it’s near impossible to take your eyes off the panoramic visions befitting the languorous mood of the series. The flower farm Thornfield is in itself a visual treat and the language of flowers, which again is both a family forte and secret, is as revealing as the many layers of the narrative. Each episode takes us deeper into family secrets. By the fifth episode, we know who set the fire that took away Alice’s parents.

The beauty of the series, however, does not merely lie in how it keeps adding to the mystique and unveiling the mysteries around its key characters. Each element of the series — from cinematography by Sam Chiplin to music by Polish pianist and composer Hania Rani to editing (Dany Cooper and Deborah Peart) — enhances the power of story-telling that goes back and forth in time.

Apart from June, Alice and her parents Clem Hart (Charlie Vickers) and Agnes (Tilda Cobham-Hervey), we meet another significant character Sally (Asher Keddie), whose predicament tugs at our heartstrings. And then there is June’s partner Twig and we instantly warm up to her, as Leah Purcell does a wonderful job of etching out her caring and affable persona.

Sigourney Weaver as June Hart brings out the complexities of her ‘now stony now tender’ matriarch part with remarkable felicity. Being a protector of the family has cost her dearly. And she transfers this uneasiness to her character exceedingly well. Both Alycia Debnam Carey as Alice Hart and Alyla Browne as her younger nine-year-old version, stand out as wounded, brittle and vulnerable souls, a testimony to how damaging violence can be.

With two more episodes to go in the seven-part series, this poignant world of Alice and June Hart is worth your time, provided you are willing to invest in emotions that penetrate deep into your heart and are not on the surface fluff.

Streaming on Amazon Prime Video, how the next two episodes will pan out can’t be said with finality. Can lost childhood of Alice and others like Sally be regained? Is healing possible or more traumas are in store? We don’t know the answers as yet. Going by what has already unfurled, we anticipate a satisfying and hopefully a defining season finale. Few episodic series sustain your interest…but this directorial signature by Glendyn Ivin, created by show-runner Sarah Lambert, who has also co-written the screenplay, sure does. The sixth episode drops this Thursday and the final on September1. Worth checking out!