Hmm. Though it has some performances to appreciate and some beautiful scenery, it's much easier to admire this mini-series version of the Australian novel than it is to love it. Natalie Dormer is the real reason for watching, and her performance as Mrs. Appleyard - despite regularly reminding me of Gary Oldman in "Bram Stoker's Dracula" - is multifaceted and excellent. It's just a shame that it exists in a series that tries to cling so tightly to the mysterious elements of Peter Weirs film, that over and over again it just halts to show you a 30 second montage of clouds sped up or dust blowing on the wind. I don't really mind added elements to pad the story or the ambiguous nature of the ending, but those are mixed in with scenes of random dream sequences (that I assume are metaphorical, but if so, are never explained) and missing scenes from the middle of the plot, where the story is implied though not specifically detailed. The most damning feature though is that despite only being six hours long, it's lacking in enough story to fill that runtime, so scenes are show multiple times with an incremental increase each time but no big reveal at the end of them. At half the length it would be twice as good, but as it is there's not much to recommend committing to that run time.

Ignore the bad reviews from people who clearly don't know what a good mini series looks like. I really liked this show. Lots of beautiful scenery with some scenes reminding me of a stage play. Very eerie with seemingly factual threads interspersed with elements of the supernatural and sci fi. Natalie Dormer is great as usual and the overall acting is very good. Some found it confusing and it does end in am ambiguous way but then so did the book and film. Loosely based on the real life disappearance of two girls in the 1800s, I'd definitely give this a watch if you're looking for something to kill a few hours.

Some excellent acting, fabulous camera work, great set scenes that capture the claustrophobic atmosphere of the school. The things that let this don't, we just don't like anybody and really don't care. The graphics and music jar with the action and prove to be a distraction often played on instruments not in keeping with the period. The settings are too crisp and too clean and the director is fixated with symmetry, this effect creates a feeling of style over substance. The inner emotional conflicts of the characters rarely surface and so we the viewer are detached. Overall I enjoyed it but was just not memorable.

One an one-third episodes were more than enough. The scenery was nice and not much wrong with the acting but looked more like a spilled jigsaw with no picture on the box lid.