2023 Show
United States of America · English, German
A beautiful if melodramatic portrait of moving on and healing
Domestic abuse is a delicate matter, and onscreen depictions always run the risk of being either too sensational or mopey. The Lost Flowers of Alice Hart, thankfully, is neither. It sensitively and creatively tells the story of Alice and all the other survivors who June shelters on her flower farm. More than just decor, these flowers serve as a lifeline to the girls: not only do they grow and sell them to earn a living, but they’ve also made a special secret language out of them. Different blooms mean different things, and when you live in a world where your pain is systematically ignored, it makes sense to communicate in hiding. Granted, the Lost Flowers of Alice Hart can get overly dramatic at times. Some plotlines include hiding who the child’s real father is and fighting to get custody of said child. But it’s unfair to dismiss the series as mere melodrama. It’s doing important work by shedding light on the manifold ways women are mistreated, and it does so in a commendably original and artful way.
After losing her parents to a mysterious fire, nine-year-old Alice Hart is raised by her grandmother June on a flower farm where she learns there are secrets within secrets. But years on, an unearthed betrayal sees Alice forced to face her past.
"There are times when the pace of “Alice Hart” can be glacial, but it’s worth being patient with its early chapters, which set the stage for a study of generational loss and the horrible mistakes people make in protecting loved ones."
— Brian Tallerico
Based on the novel of the same name, the seven-part series follows Alice (Alyla Browne), a domestically abused nine-year-old who moves in with her grandmother June (Sigourney Weaver) after a tragic accident takes the lives of her parents.
Sigourney Weaver serves as executive producer and co-lead in this series, and she is excellent as both, but I have to ask: what is that accent? It’s mostly American with a whiff of British and maybe Australian? It’s a testament to her acting skills and star power that she remains a commanding presence despite it, but I just wish she stuck with something consistent so as to lessen the distracting hybrid sound coming out of her mouth!
It’s a bit like the HBO series Big Little Lies if it dialed down the spectacle and upped the sympathy instead (and also if it were Australian).
Renee Cuisia is the lead curator at A Good Movie to Watch. In her spare time, she likes to watch K-dramas and analyze them to death. She's also seen You've Got Mail one too many times but is still convinced it's one of the greatest films out there.
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