Rent Celia (1989)
3.7 of 5 from 78 ratings
1h 39min
- General info
- Available formats
- Synopsis:
- Set in mid-1950's Australia, with the fear of Communism in the air and the country's farmlands overrun by a plague of rabbits, the film depicts a long, hot summer seen through the eyes and over-active imagination of nine year old Celia (Rebecca Smart). Shaken by the death of her beloved grandmother, Celia finds herself adrift between the cruel games and rituals of childhood and the incomprehensible world of grown-ups. With monstrous creatures stalking her dreams by night, those imagined terrors blur by day with the banal brutality of the adult world leading to tragic and shocking consequences.
- Actors:
- Rebecca Smart, Nicholas Eadie, Victoria Longley, Mary-Anne Fahey, Margaret Ricketts, Alexander Hutchinson, Adrian Mitchell, Callie Gray, Martin Sharman, Clair Couttie, Alex Menglet, Amelia Frid, William Zappa, Feon Keane, Louise Le Nay, Shannon McNamara, Luke Mathews, Deborra-Lee Furness, Irene Inescort, Myles Sharpe
- Directors:
- Ann Turner
- Producers:
- Gordon Glenn, Timothy White
- Voiced By:
- Don Kinsey, Dan Webb
- Writers:
- Ann Turner
- Aka:
- Celia: Child of Terror
- Studio:
- Secondrun
- Genres:
- Classics, Drama, Horror, Sci-Fi & Fantasy
- Collections:
- Hare We Go Again! - Bunny Movies For Easter: Part 2, Holidays Film Collection
- Countries:
- Australia
- BBFC:
- Release Date:
- 18/10/2021
- Run Time:
- 104 minutes
- Languages:
- English LPCM Mono
- Subtitles:
- English Hard of Hearing
- Formats:
- Pal
- Aspect Ratio:
- Widescreen 1.85:1
- Colour:
- Colour
- BLU-RAY Regions:
- (0) All
- Bonus:
- Celia's World (2021): a new, exclusive and expansive documentary on the film's background and legacy made especially for this release by Ann Turner
- A filmed interview with director Ann Turner
- Alexandra Heller-Nicholas in conversation about the film with curator Maria Lewis
- Extensive image gallery
- World premiere release on Blu-ray
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Reviews (1) of Celia
Australian Gothic in Miniature - Celia review by griggs
On the surface, it looks like a coming-of-age tale about a young girl in suburban Australia. But scratch it and you hit something darker — the peculiar blend of menace and politics critics like to badge as “Australian Gothic.” Think Picnic at Hanging Rock’s mystery, Razorback’s feral threat, or The Last Wave’s ominous soundscape — Celia belongs in that uneasy company.
What’s striking is the slippage between dream and reality: one minute playground spats, the next unsettling visions, all underscored by an atmosphere that won’t leave you alone. It’s scrappy, sometimes uneven, but then Act 3 detonates with a brutal twist that makes you sit up straight and rethink what you’ve been watching.
No, it’s not as polished as the better-known Australian classics, but it’s a strange, prickly piece that lingers in the mind — unsettling in ways you can’t quite shake.
1 out of 1 members found this review helpful.