The Dressmaker is a 2015 Australian comedy-drama film co-written and directed by Jocelyn Moorhouse, based on the 2000 novel of the same name by Rosalie Ham. It stars Kate Winslet as a femme fatale in the title role of the dressmaker, Myrtle "Tilly" Dunnage, who returns to a small Australian town to take care of her ailing, mentally unstable mother. The film explores the themes of revenge and creativity and was described by Moorhouse as "Clint Eastwood's Unforgiven with a sewing machine". The film was internationally co-financed between Australia and the United States.
The project was first conceived in 2000, and Ham wrote a treatment herself which was not developed. Sue Maslin bought the rights to the novel and hired Moorhouse to direct and write the screenplay. Production took place in Melbourne and across Victoria, Australia in late 2014. The film had its world premiere at 2015 Toronto International Film Festival on 14 September 2015 and had a theatrical release on 29 October 2015 in Australia and New Zealand. It opened at the number 1 spot at the Australian and New Zealand box offices and became the second highest-grossing Australian film of 2015 and sixteenth highest-grossing film of all time at Australian box office.
Despite receiving mixed critical reviews, with praise going towards Winslet's performance and criticism focusing on its uneven tone, The Dressmaker led the 5th AACTA Awards with thirteen nominations. These included Best Film, Best Direction, Best Production Design, Best Original Music Score, Best Sound, Best Editing, Best Cinematography and won Best Lead Actress, Best Supporting Actress, Best Supporting Actor, Best Costume Design and People's Choice Award for Favourite Australian Film.
Plot
In 1926, in the fictitious Australian outback town of Dungatar, 10-year-old schoolgirl Myrtle Dunnage is blamed for the death of classmate Stewart Pettyman and sent away by police Sergeant Horatio Farrat (Hugo Weaving).
Twenty-five years later, in 1951, Myrtle, now a couturier-trained dressmaker called Tilly (Kate Winslet), returns to Dungatar. Tilly remembers nothing of Stewart's death, and her mentally ill mother Molly (Judy Davis), living in squalor, does not even remember her.
At the local football final game, Tilly’s red couture gown distracts the Dungatar players. Teddy McSwiney (Liam Hemsworth) points this out, and she changes into an equally alluring black outfit before the last quarter. When the teams swap ends of the field, the men from Winyerp are the distracted ones, and Dungatar wins. Tilly agrees to make a dress for Gertrude Pratt (Sarah Snook) for the upcoming footballers dance, in exchange for the truth. Gertrude reveals that she told Stewart where Tilly was hiding that day.
At the dance, a transformed Gertrude captures the attention of William Beaumont (James Mackay), and they later become engaged. Impressed, the town's women commission extravagant dresses from Tilly, and Teddy pursues a romantic relationship with her.
Sergeant Farrat confesses to Tilly that Stewart's father, Evan (Shane Bourne), a town councillor, blackmailed him for secretly being a cross-dresser. Tilly and Farrat bond over their shared passion for designer clothing. Evan recruits incompetent Una Pleasance (Sacha Horler) to start a rival dressmaking service, but when Gertrude hires Tilly to create her wedding dress, the townspeople return to Tilly.
Bribed with a feather boa, Farrat lets Tilly read the witness statement given by her former schoolteacher, Beulah Harridiene (Kerry Fox). She confronts Beulah, who admits that she was not even there. Tilly tells Farrat this at Gertrude's wedding reception, but he remains reluctantly convinced that Tilly killed Stewart. Everyone else had an alibi. He also reveals that Evan is Tilly's father. Tilly runs away, and Teddy follows after soothing his developmentally disabled brother, Barney (Gyton Grantley), who screams hysterically that Tilly "moved" when Stewart died.
At the schoolhouse, Teddy helps her to remember how Stewart died. He threatened to murder her mother if she did not stand against a wall. He charged head-down at her, but she moved aside and Stewart broke his neck. Barney witnessed this from the town silo, but was afraid people would think he was lying. Tilly and Teddy make love in his caravan and plan to marry. They sit atop the silo, and Teddy shows that he does not believe in her curse by jumping inside. He sinks into the grain and asphyxiates.