ELLIE & ABBIE (& ELLIE’S DEAD AUNT)
Monica Zanetti, 2020, Australia, 80 min.
Cast: Sophie Hawkshaw, Zoe Terakes, Julia Billington, Marta Dusseldorp, Rachel House, Bridie Connell
Move over Cinderella… this modern queer fairytale belongs to Ellie who has her very own fairy godmother in the form of her reincarnated Aunt Tara appearing just in the nick of time to give advice to Ellie who is coming out to her mother and trying to pursue Abbie, the girl of her dreams at school. After solving her dating dilemma, Ellie puts together the pieces of her family’s puzzling past and discovers that once upon a time her Aunt Tara was a beacon of hope to many more people than her. Monica Zanetti’s charming film offers an intoxicating blend of earthy and ethereal ingredients that induces both laughter and tears as it delivers a potent message about honesty and acceptance. (And leaves us wishing we all had a loveable fairy godmother as portrayed by the adorable Julia Billington)