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Picnic at Hanging Rock

Picnic at Hanging Rock

Drama · Mystery · 1975

In the early 1900s, Miranda attends a girls boarding school in Australia. One Valentine's Day, the school's typically strict headmistress treats the girls to a picnic field trip to an unusual but scenic volcanic formation called Hanging Rock. Despite rules against it, Miranda and several other girls venture off. It's not until the end of the day that the faculty realizes the girls and one of the teachers have disappeared mysteriously.

Movie details

Picnic at Hanging Rock

“On St. Valentine's Day in 1900 a party of schoolgirls set out to picnic at Hanging Rock…Some were never to return.”

1975 Drama · Mystery 1h 47m

Critical arithmetic

One number, for now.

TMDB

7.2 / 10

Community rating

In the early 1900s, Miranda attends a girls boarding school in Australia. One Valentine's Day, the school's typically strict headmistress treats the girls to a picnic field trip to an unusual but scenic volcanic formation called Hanging Rock. Despite rules against it, Miranda and several other girls venture off. It's not until the end of the day that the faculty realizes the girls and one of the teachers have disappeared mysteriously.

CriticWise case file

What this film says about your taste.

Not a recommendation score. A measure of how closely the film’s taste signals resemble yours.

The archetype split

Who fights over Picnic at Hanging Rock?

The split comes from the same five-axis model used by the test, not audience ratings or review sentiment.

Taste neighbourhood

Nearby on the taste map.

TMDB supplies the candidates. CriticWise reorders them by craft, strangeness, prestige, emotion, and pace.

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Names above the title

The people responsible.

Directed by

Peter Weir

Written by

Cliff Green

Rachel Roberts

Rachel Roberts

Mrs. Appleyard

Vivean Gray

Vivean Gray

Miss Greta McCraw

Helen Morse

Helen Morse

Mlle. Dianne de Poitiers

Kirsty Child

Kirsty Child

Miss Dora Lumley

Tony Llewellyn-Jones

Tony Llewellyn-Jones

Tom

Jacki Weaver

Jacki Weaver

Minnie

Anne-Louise Lambert

Anne-Louise Lambert

Miranda St. Clare

Court is in session

Put Picnic at Hanging Rock on trial.

Two incompatible taste archetypes. One film. Read the arguments, then issue a completely binding cultural ruling.

The defence The Auteur Devotee

“Form is the argument.”

Every composed frame and deliberate cut is evidence that control can be thrilling in its own right.

The prosecution The Popcorn Loyalist

“Technique in search of a pulse.”

Immaculate construction is still construction. The film may be too busy proving its craft to feel alive.