The Lost Flowers of Alice Hart

The Lost Flowers of Alice Hart is an Australian drama miniseries created by Sarah Lambert and based on the novel by Holly Ringland. All seven episodes were directed by Glendyn Ivin, and were released by Amazon Studios from 4 August to 1 September 2023.

Set in Australia, the series follows the titular character (played by Alyla Browne and Alycia Debnam-Carey), a girl abused by her father who finds herself orphaned after a fire and is taken in by her estranged grandmother (Sigourney Weaver), who runs a flower plant nursery doubling as a haven for "Flowers", women who were victims of domestic abuse.

The series received positive reviews for its direction and performances, in particular Weaver's. It received 12 nominations at the 13th AACTA Awards, including Best Miniseries, Best Lead Actress in Drama for Weaver, and Best Supporting Actress in Drama for Debnam-Carey and Leah Purcell.

Synopsis[edit]

A young girl from a violent upbringing is orphaned and moves in with her grandmother on a flower farm.^[2]

Cast[edit]

Main cast[edit]

• Sigourney Weaver as June Hart, Alice's paternal grandmother who takes her in after the death of Alice's parents, but hides many secrets from her granddaughter.
• Asher Keddie as Sally Morgan, a librarian who realizes the abuse Alice and her mother suffer, and later tries to adopt Alice before adopting Charlie.
• Leah Purcell as Twig, June's wife
• Frankie Adams as Candy Blue, June and Twig's adopted daughter
  • Catherine Laga'Aia as young Candy
• Alexander England as John Morgan, a policeman and Sally's husband
• Charlie Vickers as Clem Hart, Alice's abusive father, Agnes' husband and June's estranged son
  • Jack Latorre as young Clem Hart
• Tilda Cobham-Hervey as Agnes Hart, Alice's mother
• Sebastián Zurita as Dylan, a ranger Alice falls in love with as an adult
• Shareena Clanton as Ruby, a ranger who becomes Alice's friend
• Alyla Browne and Alycia Debnam-Carey as Alice Hart, the abused daughter of Agnes and Clem who is raised by June after her parents' death, only to face another crisis as a grown-up. Browne portrays Alice as a child, and Debnam-Carey portrays her as a young adult.

Guests[edit]

• Jeremy Blewitt as Charlie Morgan, Alice's brother who was adopted by Sally and John as a newborn.

Episodes[edit]

Production[edit]

In May 2021, it was announced that Made Up Stories, Amazon Studios and Endeavor Content would produce an adaptation of the book The Lost Flowers of Alice Hart, with filming taking place in Australia. Sigourney Weaver was announced as starring and executive producing, with Sarah Lambert show running and executive producing, Glendyn Ivin as director and executive producer, and Jodi Matterson, Bruna Papandrea, Steve Hutensky and Allie Goss also executive producing.^[3]

Filming began in October 2021 in Sydney and the regions of New South Wales and the Northern Territory. It was confirmed that Asher Keddie, Leah Purcell, Alycia Debnam-Carey, Frankie Adams, Alexander England, Charlie Vickers, Tilda Cobham-Hervey and Alyla Browne had been added to the cast.^[4] In April 2022, Sebastián Zurita was cast, Kirsty Fisher and Kim Wilson were announced as co-writers alongside Lambert, Barbara Gibbs was confirmed as producer and Lucinda Reynolds as co-executive producer.^[5] In September 2022, production company Endeavour Content rebranded as Fifth Season.^[6]

Release[edit]

Amazon Studios announced the show will be available in over 240 countries and territories through the streaming service Amazon Prime Video.^[7] It premiered on 4 August 2023, with the first three episodes available immediately and a new episode debuting on a weekly basis until the series finale on 1 September 2023.^[8]

On 16 August 2023, Mediaweek reported that the series set a record for highest viewership of an Australian series worldwide. It also reached the top five in 78 countries and top three in 42 countries on Prime Video.^[9][10]

Reception[edit]

On review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, 82% of 34 critics gave the series a positive review, with an average rating of 7.2/10. The website's critical consensus reads, "Sigourney Weaver is excellent as a thorny matriarch in The Lost Flowers of Alice Hart, a visually appealing and well-acted melodrama."^[11] On Metacritic, the series holds a weighted average score of 66 out of 100 based on 16 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews".^[12]

Accolades[edit]

See also[edit]

• List of Australian television series

References[edit]

External links[edit]

• The Lost Flowers of Alice Hart at IMDb