Film Review: Audrey Is Absurd And Purely Unexpected

The Scoop Audrey Melbourne Women in Film Festival

Audrey, directed by Natalie Bailey, must be amongst the most bizarrely spectacular films of the year. Put any preconceptions away, though, as every moment of this film is purely unexpected. Screening as part of the 2025 Melbourne Women in Film Festival, the audience retched and laughed at the bizarre imagery bombarded throughout the 96-minute runtime. But what resonated with me most with this script was how absurd it is.

It is a fact that the day of your eighteenth birthday marks the end of your opportunities. Your fate, interests and hobbies are sealed by then. If you have not started by then, your career in them is done. Now we know this is not true, you can restart at 28, 58 or 80 and do something else to pay off the mortgage. Nevertheless, there are countless youths with their parents living their dreams through them.

Writer Lou Sanz has been perfecting the script for Audrey for over twenty years, which shows in its development from depicting teenage shenanigans to the creeping pessimism of adulthood.

At many moments, Audrey crosses the line of what is socially acceptable. It tells the story of a mother and former retro soap actress, Ronnie Lipsick (Jackie van Beek), who attempts to re-live her career and passions through her daughter Audrey (Josephine Blazier), who is disinterested. Ronnie’s consuming obsession has her scapegoat her disabled daughter Nora (Nannah Diviney), and her relationship with her husband Cormac (Jeremy Lindsay Taylor).

The Scoop — Audrey has the makings of a cult classic film

Eventually, Audrey becomes fed up and, in a moment of teenage rage, creates a spectacle, leaving her in a coma and unable to fulfil her mother’s dreams. Her mother then takes Audrey’s identity, living as a teenager all over, attending acting classes and being cast in productions. Cormac fabricates her and Ronnie’s death for sympathy and then a romantic relationship. Amid Audrey’s absence and her parents’ newfound opportunities, Nora becomes the golden child, indulged like never before. Soon, the family becomes a true unit and does not want Audrey to wake.

Sanz has brilliantly written a complex albeit common family dynamic. Audrey is the golden child, indulged, albeit as a vessel for her mother, whose true aspirations are contained within her. Audrey is also a brat whose family feel deep down as if they are better off without her.

Nora is the scapegoated burden defined by her cerebral palsy and ignored by her family. Cormac is the troubled outsider who can never try hard enough. Ronnie is the narcissistic ringleader trapped within a rose-coloured fantasy troubled by reality. Famed actors and police officers are swept into her delusions of idealism, and the audience is left with a ridiculous story that would have been avoidable if Ronnie had rejected the stigma of aging.

Disability is a strong focus in the film. Sanz has written exaggerated satire enhanced for shock value, though clearly identifies injustices within society. I know many families with similar dynamics. Idealistic children are the centre of attention and spoiled. Disabled children are seen as invisible or in the way. They are often labelled as badly behaved for seeking the same attention. I went in sceptical but was blown away by the brilliance of how well this was portrayed. It felt as if one was being heard for the first time.

Audrey is a very sexual film and depicts both queer and cis middle-aged and teenaged romances, both of which are deeply taboo. It does so in a very slapstick manner, almost taking the seriousness out of it. The farcical nature completely pushes social norms with a subplot that sees Cormac taking on a side hustle in an erotic Christian film studio. But what this film does best is emphasise that middle-aged and older people can still explore and enjoy sex. Scenes showing healthy polygamous and queer discovery were welcoming to witness on screen.

Despite the absence of any supernatural elements, Audrey often feels surreal. It makes extensive use of flashy computer-generated visuals, enhancing its strange and dreamlike atmosphere. The imagery, particularly during Audrey’s coma, mimics sensations of exhaustion and blinking, further distancing her from an ever-shifting reality. The film can be interpreted as a psychological nightmare or dark fantasy unfolding in a character’s mind, most likely Audrey’s, though I personally saw it as Nora’s.

The festival screening was followed by a panel discussion where director Natalie Bailey and writer Lou Sanz shared the story behind its development and impact.

Audrey is a very peculiar film which I see becoming a future classic. I can certainly see it having a cult following. Either way, I don’t see it being forgotten any time soon.

Melbourne Women in Film Festival runs from 20 to 24 March at the ACMI and Federation Square.

Tickets and further info: http://mwff.com.au/

Socials: https://www.instagram.com/mwff_au/

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