[clattering, indistinct shouting]
[sobs]
- [bang] - Agh!
[thud]
Alice. Alice!
Oh, my God!
Alice!
[Alice] Fuck!
[keys jangle]
[engine starts]
[thunder rumbles]
♪ ♪
[gasps]
[car door closes, men chat and laugh indistinctly]
[birds call]
- So, was she drunk? - No, I don't think so.
Try her phone again.
- Ugh, it's switched off. - Keep trying.
All I remember is seeing her putting flowers in your room
for your return from the dead.
Yellow bells and violets.
Then she went to town for supplies to see out the storm.
Oh! Post office.
She was going to grab the mail from the P.O. box in town.
[grunts]
[beep]
Where are you?
Look, I don't know what's going on with you,
but, please, just let me know you're OK.
Bye.
Oi! You just had your uterus out.
You'll be popping your stitches. Get up, June, come on.
- Oh, goodness. - [grunts]
Go into town and ask everyone we know
if they've seen her, heard from her.
Get the police to put an alert on her truck,
and I'll stay here in case she calls.
This is fun.
[sighs] Come on.
[blows] Ow.
[sighs]
[phone vibrates]
[clears throat]
[Doctor] All the test results are good.
Everything's healed up perfectly.
So the other kidney's OK?
Yes. He'll be fine. Better than fine.
Oh! [laughs]
So we don't have to come back?
Unless there's a problem, no.
That's what we've been waiting for.
[all laugh]
- Thank you. - My pleasure.
[phone rings]
- [Recording] Hi. You've called... - Sa...
..Sally Morgan, please leave a message
and I'll get back to you as soon as I can.
Uh, call me soon as you get this.
It's June.
[dog yelps and whimpers] - [Man] Hey!
- [whimpering] - [man shouts indistinctly]
Hey!
- Hey! Stop! - [dog whimpers]
- [clang] - Stop it! What are you doing?
[dog whimpers]
Hey, hey. Come here.
Fuck off, dog.
Hey.
- [dog pants] - Are you lost?
♪ ♪
Should a woman just out of hospital be...
taking those with whiskey?
Should a woman in her 60s still be smoking weed?
One good thing, if you do have cancer,
we could grow this stuff legitimately and make a bloody fortune.
- Well, then, bring on the cancer. - I'm joking.
[phone vibrates]
June speaking.
Uh, I got your messages.
And, no, I haven't heard from Alice.
You didn't send her a letter? Or call her?
No. Like I said, I...
Alice made it really clear to us
that she didn't want any further contact,
and we have respected that.
I mean, it's been 14 years.
Do you have any idea where she might be?
I'm sure she's fine. Alice can take care of herself.
If you do hear from her, please let me know.
It's Tess. From the markets.
[June sighs]
[insects chirrup, creatures call]
[yelp]
Ugh.
[insects chirrup]
How could you?
[gasps]
June.
- Agh! - June, wake up.
Jesus, you're burning up.
Are you in pain?
Oh, God.
- Is your medication up here? - [whispers] Yeah.
[pills rattle]
[breath hisses]
[grunts faintly]
[breathes heavily]
Oh, my God, we made it, Pip.
- [whimpers] - What's happened?
Fuck.
Oh, you poor little thing.
Shit.
It's OK.
- [whispers] Fuck. - [whimpers]
- Oh, God. - [whines]
Oh...
Oh, you poor little thing.
It's OK. It's going to be OK.
Ugh...
[kids shout indistinctly]
- [door closes loudly] - [dog barks]
Hello.
[Man] Sorry, we close at one on Saturday.
Who do we have here?
She won't stop crying and there's blood in her urine.
[whines softly]
Hey, there.
You've been in the wars.
How old is she?
I don't know. I found her at a truck stop.
You must be new here.
Locals won't touch strays.
Mmm, she's a bit of a mess.
Urinary tract infection, mites.
She's underweight. Poor little thing.
- You definitely need some TLC. - [whimpers]
Don't worry. I'll take good care of her.
You can wash your hands, if you like.
Just might grab some details...
name, phone, address, that kind of thing.
Heya.
Um, Alice.
It's all I have right now.
Everyone calls me Moss.
[indistinct voices]
Come on, boys, don't.
[breathes heavily]
[inaudible]
- What happened? - You fainted.
Here.
Just... go slow.
Ugh.
When did you last eat or drink?
Hey, fellas, hang somewhere else.
I'm fine.
I... don't think you should drive.
I can give you a lift.
Um, I'm fine.
Maybe you should start your own car detailing business,
'cause... that's really something.
Hey, Alice...
I can drive you to a hotel...
Look, I'm perfectly capable of checking into a hotel by myself.
OK? I'm not some delicate fucking flower.
[keys Jangle]
[engine sputters and starts]
[vehicle drives]
[indistinct voices]
[door closes]
[Oggi] Mum wants to go back to Bulgaria one day.
So when I'm older, I'm going to take her home to the Valley of the Roses,
where we're from.
She says queens are buried under the roses,
and that's why the roses smell so sweet.
Actually, I made that last bit up.
[both laugh]
- [Oggi] Where else should we go? - The Bronte house.
I want to sit at the desk that they wrote at,
and look out over the cemetery.
Uh... Bulgakov.
- Mm-hm. - The Red Square.
- See where Moscow meets the devil. - Yes.
- Cherry blossoms, Murakami. - Japan.
Yeah. We have to go there.
I'd go anywhere with you.
You do know, if we leave, though, I can't come back here, right?
When we left Dad, he went back to Bulgaria
and Mum and I should have gone too.
We're here illegally.
So if we leave the country,
I can't come back, Alice.
Let's run away together.
How about we elope?
What if... What if we got married, and we had two passports
and then we could live and work wherever we wanted and...
Are you asking me to marry you?
Yeah.
Yes.
It'll be a secret.
Yeah, it's our secret.
[tv plays] ..these two things can never be reunited ever again.
[laughter]
It's a plastic bottle.
If we put it in landfills, it'll be there for 1,000 years.
[tv audio becomes indistinct]
[indistinct music]
[music becomes distinct]
[♪ Phoebe Bridgers: "Motion Sickness"]
[mouths]
[sings indistinctly]
[song ends]
[insects chirrup]
[faint crying]
[footsteps approach]
I'm so sorry, Alice.
Someone called Immigration...
..and Oggi's been deported.
[sobs]
[Oggi] Dear Alice,
I know you wrote that you didn't want to hear from me again.
But for five years now, I've been writing to you
because I really did believe that you loved me.
For a long time,
I couldn't accept that you'd end our relationship like that...
by email.
Not after everything that we'd promised each other.
I'm writing to tell you...
I finally did take that trip that we'd planned.
And I met someone.
[screams]
Her name is Anna.
We're getting married, Alice.
[tv plays indistinctly]
Oh, dear.
[phone vibrates]
Alice!
Did you know?
Were you part of it?
A part of what?
Getting rid of Oggi,
the letters, all the fucking lies.
What...? What are you talking about?
Oggi sent me a letter, but it's the only one that's made it to me
because June destroyed the rest.
She blocked his emails, she sent him an email
pretending to be me, dumping him.
She had him fucking deported!
Oh, I'm so sorry, Alice.
You tell her I fucking know everything...
about all her controlling bullshit.
She took away the only man I've ever loved.
And now he's getting married.
Where are you?
I can't tell you.
And I'm not coming back.
[whispers] I hate her.
[sniffles]
[clattering]
♪ ♪
Hey.
Going for a swim?
Yeah.
No water here.
The waterhole's all dried up.
Well, they lied.
Still worth the walk.
May I?
If you do want to swim...
this is the place.
Jalngay waterhole.
About an hour's drive.
But you have to get there right on magic hour: 7:30.
You wait and see.
It's, uh...
[whispers] ...magic.
[chuckles]
Thank you.
Do you like flowers?
Uh, yeah. Yeah, I do.
Well, when it does rain here,
this whole place becomes a sea of desert flowers.
I'd like to see that.
Yeah.
- Thanks. - Yeah.
Jalngay.
7:30. About an hour's drive.
Got it.
[knock at door]
I'm sorry. I'll pay for it.
Moss rang. Your dog's ready, but you can't keep it here.
Oh. Um... OK.
Oh, you look so good.
Thank you so much.
She looks so much better.
[barks]
Um...
I can't keep her at the pub.
Would it be OK if she just stays here a few more days
just until I get myself sorted?
I'm sorry I was so rude.
Especially when you've been so nice.
I know we don't know each other very well...
Well, I know you're shit at car detailing.
You like to smash mirrors. And you love a minibar.
[chuckles] For a big town, it's, um, pretty small.
Buy me a drink and I'll take Pip to my place.
More room for her to run around.
So, why did you pick here?
Um, same name as my mum's.
"Agnes".
I kind of took it as a sign.
What's under all the butterflies on your truck?
- A sign. - [both chuckle]
Um, Alice Hart, Floriographer.
No idea what it means, but it sounds impressive.
- I grew up on a flower farm. - A flower farm?
- Mmm. - Did you milk roses?
The machines must be really fiddly.
[laughs]
We specialise in Australian natives.
Where I'm from, all flowers have meanings.
My family prefer using them to real words.
It's how we communicate, flowers, floriography.
Can I have a look?
Yeah.
"Resurrection."
"My hidden worth."
"By your love I live and die."
"My hidden worth... Are they all so dramatic?
Is there one for, uh...
'it's bin night'?
Or 'your hair looks quite nice'?
Do you need to be somewhere?
No. No.
- So, Miss Floriographer... - Yes.
What does moss mean?
[laughs]
I am WAY too sober to tell you that.
- That bad, huh? - Well, uh...
Another round, then.
Let's do another round.
You want to do shots?
[loud, indistinct talking and music]
[grunts]
"Courage In The Face Of Fear".
My mum has this.
Not that I want to be thinking about her right now.
Old-school.
Haven't seen one of these in ages.
Maybe I should go.
Besides, now I'm worried that
moss means "bad breath." [laughs]
Or "touches slow and creepy".
Thanks for today.
I had fun.
Don't go.
I... I want you to stay.
Are you sure?
[whispers] Why do you have so many buttons?
[both chuckle]
- How about that? - OK.
[both laugh]
Zip! [laughs]
- Um... - [laughs]
You've been going commando all day?
- [laughs] Well, I really... - [laughs]
didn't know this was going to happen.
[both laugh]
What are you doing, darl?
Alice was right.
What?
You heard from her?
When? Is she alright?
Did you know?
Know what?
That June got rid of Oggi.
Is Alice OK?
- Of course she's not! - Well, where is she?
Even if I did know, why the fuck would I tell you?
[door opens, footsteps approach]
Alice called Candy.
The letter, it was from Oggi.
Oggi...
Oh... Oh, God.
- [laughs] - It's not funny.
What is wrong with you?
I thought something terrible had happened to her.
It has. She knows.
Oh, I should have never bloody listened to you.
Oh, come on. That was years ago.
We didn't want her to throw her life away on Oggi
and move to bloody Bulgaria.
We agreed.
So does Candy know where Alice is?
No.
You need to fix this, June.
I am not losing another child.
[footsteps recede]
[door closes]
[phone rings]
Uh, hello? John's phone. Charlie speaking.
Hello?
Is there anyone there?
It's June Hart.
June?
Uh, it's... It's me.
It's Charlie.
Hey, you might want to hear my news...
Could you put your father on the phone, please?
He's covered in flour right now.
We're actually having a bit of a celebration...
Put your father on the phone. I don't have all day.
- You OK? - Mm-hm.
Uh, June, how can I help?
I need your help finding Alice.
John Morgan's going to help us find...
[groans]
June!
[groans]
Candy! Candy!
June!
- What happened? - I don't know.
- [June groans] - June!
[indistinct audio]
[Alice speaks indistinctly]
Woo-hoo!
Yeah!
- [Moss hoots] - [laughs]
How did you know about this place?
A friend.
Come on.
[both laugh]
Just watch out for, uh...
Don't say crocodiles. Are there crocodiles?!
- [both laugh] - Are there crocodiles?!
[birds call]
[indistinct chatter and laughter]
So tell me about your family.
Uh, I see them, a few times a year.
After a couple of days, I can't wait to come home.
- [laughs] - Don't get me wrong, right?
I love them. It's just...
I don't know. I miss... the desert.
Miss feeling insignificant.
What about your parents? Where do they live?
Uh, they died, when I was nine.
- Oh, my God. I'm so sorry. - It's fine.
Seriously.
- I always stick my foot in it. - No, no, no, no.
That's why you were brought up by your grandmother...
- Yeah. - On the farm.
It's OK.
I mean, now I can't go back there either, but...
Why?
She's lying and controlling,
and she's got rid of anyone that's ever shown any interest in me.
- She'd get rid of you. - Is that right?
- Mmm. - How's she going to do that?
Well, she's got her ways. [laughs]
Well, I...
guess you'll just have to stay here, then.
- [laughter] - [man trills]
Just don't look. Honestly...
- Who are these people? - I do not know these people, OK?
- No... - [indistinct chatter]
[Woman] Margaritas, please. Four jugs. No, no, no. Make it five.
[Moss] No, no, no!
- Hey. - Hi.
I-I'm Lulu.
Alice.
Come and join us.
It's Thugger's birthday drinks tonight.
Let's go!
[indistinct]
Thanks, Merle. I got five...
[whispers] Do you think he's alright?
He has hardly spoken all night.
He's a 14-year-old boy.
Pretty non-verbal, as a rule.
We were celebrating, and June called and fucked it.
So, you know that.
She was worried about Alice.
- Are you making excuses for her? - I'm going to bed.
Don't stay up too late.
- ["Ring Of Fire" plays] - [crowd cheers]
[sings] ♪ Love is a burning thing
♪ And it makes a fiery ring
[laughs]
♪ By wild desire
♪ I fell into the ring of fire... ♪
[cheering]
♪ I fell into a burning ring of fire... ♪
Dude, I can't believe you haven't been out to the crater yet.
The national park: it's literally why everyone comes here.
- It sounds amazing. - It is.
You know what?
I'm going to put you on the list for the sunset tour tomorrow.
Oh, I would LOVE that! I would LOVE that.
You AND Moss.
[cheering]
Fuck it.
- [phone vibrates] - [sighs] Goodness.
June's phone.
Oh, yes. May I speak with her, please? It's urgent.
She's not available, but maybe I could help.
Oh, yeah, actually, you can.
You could tell her that
if she had bothered to listen to him today,
she'd know that her grandson has been given a clean bill of health.
Do you think, would it take too much
to just pretend that she fucking cares?
Uh, I'm sorry. W-W-Who is this?
Sally Morgan. We have done our bit.
We have kept June up to date with all of Charlie's health issues,
and she can't even bring herself to say hello.
No wonder Alice has taken off.
Probably couldn't stand another minute under her roof.
If you do hear from Alice.
Could you let her know that her brother would love to meet her?
[indistinct] Hello?
Are you there?
Oh, you bitch.
Bitch.
Oh, you fucking bitch!
[shakily] Oh, goodness.
Oh, look at you.
Oh...
["Eagle Rock" plays ethereally]
Whoa. You OK?
You are waterhole man.
I didn't pick you for a smoker.
Wow. I must be drunk.
Oh, it's Dylan, by the way.
Alice.
You know, I went to...
- Jan... Janglay waterhole today. - [laughs]
- Uh-huh. - And it was magic at magic hour.
I went too.
Yesterday.
Sturt Desert Pea.
- Beautiful. - [door opens]
Dylan!
When did you get here? [laughs]
- Just now. - Did you meet Alice?
She's the best thing about tonight.
Mmm.
Hey, I just bought another round. Are you coming inside?
Oh, I just need some fresh air.
- OK. - You OK?
- Yes. - Sure?
- Mm-hm. - Mm-hm?
[♪ New Order: "Blue Monday"]
[birds sing softly]
[phone vibrates]
[groans softly]
[murmurs indistinctly]
Who messages this early on a Sunday?
It's Lulu. She put me down for the sunset tour at the crater.
She could only get one ticket.
That's fine. I've been before.
Don't fancy the four-hour round trip.
Those bloody shots... [exhales]
Where's Twig?
Sally called.
Twig knows about Charlie.
We both do.
Hey. Stop. Hey!
No. Hey, no! I'm not...
Hey, get down.
[grunts]
June, no, no.
[car door closes]
[chopping continues]
They said he was dying.
The last thing Alice needed was to lose another family member.
Fuck you, June.
He's 14.
You let Alice blame herself for his death, knowing he was alive?
- Her brother! - I didn't see it that way.
You're a fucking coward.
Yes, I am.
This is Clem's son we're talking about.
I was afraid of what that child might do.
That's her blood. That's her brother.
Alice could have grown up with Charlie.
When they took my kids from me, the only thing...
the only thing that got me through
was the thought that they were together.
And don't you pretend you don't know that!
- I know. - No!
All this time, you lied to us, lied to Alice.
Controlled who she could see, who she could love.
How are you any different to all those men out there
that you hate so much?
I made the best decisions in the interest of this family.
Bullshit!
[continues chopping]
- [Lulu] Alice! - Hey!
You made it!
Where's Moss?
Uh, he... he couldn't come.
OK.
[Woman] Thank you, everyone, for joining us.
We're so excited that you're here on country.
This country belongs to the Western Arrarnta people,
which was my grandmother's country,
my mother's country and our country.
And we're very honoured to have you here and join us today.
The story that we're going to share with you
is the one that we tell all the kids,
usually sitting round the campfire.
And we do this so that we keep our culture,
our songs and our stories alive.
One evening, the star women were dancing on the Milky Way
and a mother put her baby in the Turna,
a shallow wooden dish with curved sides,
while she danced.
The baby rocked from side to side,
and rocked so hard she fell from the stars to the earth.
The Turna landed on top of the baby and covered her,
forming a crater.
The baby's mother and father saw that she was gone.
They searched everywhere.
But they couldn't see their child under the Turna.
And they cried out in pain.
To this day, the walls of the crater protect the baby.
We still see the parents, the evening and morning stars,
moving across the sky,
as they search endlessly for their precious child.
♪ ♪
[sobs]
♪ ♪
I'm here, Mum.
[whispers] I'm here.
[♪ Emma Ruth Rundle: "Marked For Death"]