“Men aren’t demonised by this film. Narcissists won’t be changed by it. To reduce the number of women being murdered by them, understanding the plight of women is an important step. This film takes it.”
Con Nats
4 Wet Wedding Dresses
Opens May 14th 2026
Sarah (Maeve Darmody) is turning 40 and reflecting on her life. She has a 13 year old son Otis (Sonny McGee) and her husband Jake is away. She’s a real estate agent but we like her anyway, as she’s selling old heritage homes.
The problem is, Sarah isn’t happy. Her flashbacks reveal that her husband, Jake (Alexander England Alien: Covenant, How to Please a Woman) is a domineering bully who constantly gaslights her. Sarah decides to leave.
This film softly tackles the issue of domestic abuse. The dream in the title is that dream carried in the Jane Austen novels Sarah reads and reflected in her dreams. Real memories crash them.
This is very mature film making for an Australian film. Novelist, Courtney Collis (The Burial, Bird) script is measured and avoids those heavy diatribes our writers (and funding bodies) love. Volumes about the relationship are revealed in throw away comments and dreams. No need for heavy dialogue-laden scenes. Even the local girl Suti’s (?) name has significance. (Suti is the outdated act of widows throwing
themselves on their husbands burning body at funerals.)
It is shot beautifully and relies heavily on imagery to make its points. It would sit well in a festival like Cannes.
Maeve Dermody is remarkable. She has to play starry eyed lover, disillusioned wife and caring mother in one film and is convincing in each role. England as Jake is more of a single note caricature but also very believable. If you know any narcissists he rings true. And Sonny McGee is believable as Otis.
This film focuses on the emotional impact this abuse has on women and the difficulty in leaving an unhappy marriage. it handles this sensitive topic with a delicacy and subtlety not usually seen in Australian cinema. I do note that The Snow Foundation, The Australian Cultural Fund, The Mindaroo foundation and even the Comm Bank sponsored this film, not our usual funding bodies. And $1 for every ticket sold will be going to the Man Cave which is a male support group teaching blokes to be better gents.
Men aren’t demonised by this film. Narcissists won’t be changed by it. To reduce the number of women being murdered by them, understanding the plight of women is an important step. This film takes it.
4 Wet Wedding Dresses
Con Nats, On The Screen
