Celeste had a career as a well-known opera singer. When her husband died 10 years earlier she stopped performing. Now she’s ready to perform again. This time it will be at her overgrown and moss covered estate in North Queensland instead of in a concert hall.

Celeste stars Radha Mitchell as the singer. She’s apparently been drinking solidly for the last 10 years while ignoring her voice all together. We never see her practicing to get ready for the upcoming concert.

She lives in in Paronella Park, which is a real place. It’s hot, tropical, verdant, and the site of her husband’s family home. There are waterfalls and a large natural pool on the property. It’s a beautiful place.

Celeste has been living with Grace (Nadine Garner) as her friend, companion, and assistant. Before the concert Celeste contacts her stepson Jack (Thomas Cocquerel with young Jack played by Kai Lewis) to come home.

Jack does go back, but only because he’s in trouble with his loan sharks and needs money badly.

The reunion between stepmother and stepson is twisted and problematic. It’s hard to know exactly why things are the way they are in this film. The script leaves a lot unsaid, you’re guessing at what’s happening half the time. There are flashbacks but they don’t completely fill in the gaps. Celeste has some serious issues that she asks Jack to help her with.

The film was partly incomplete character studies of both Celeste and Jack, partly family story, partly about love and friendship. None of those parts quite gelled. In spite of that, Radha Mitchell and Thomas Cocquerel both did good work with what they had.

I had hopes that this film would be an excellent portrait of a woman, but I found it disappointing and merely average. It’s streaming on Fawesome, Tubi, and Prime Video if you’d like to judge for yourself.