Ladies in Black (PG)

109 mins ★★★½

Lisa Miles (Angourie Rice) is desperate to make a good impression.

The shy teenager believes landing a junior position at Sydney department store F.G. Goodes is the stepping stone she needs to her aspiring real career as a poet or an actress. Surely she'll be able to learn all the culture she needs from her fellow workers in the women's clothing department?

Alas, it seems she gets all the terrible jobs, can't seem to do anything right and her colleague's response when Lisa quotes Moliere? "Never heard of her."

Worse still, her own father (Shane Jacobsen) won't support her bid for a university education.

However, perhaps sensing Lisa is wilting from the harsh treatment meted out by the other staff, the Slovenian-born head of the exclusive Modern Gowns section, Magda (Julia Ormond), takes her under her wing.

Angourie Rice plays Lisa in Ladies in Black.

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Fans of British dramas like Mr Selfridge will lap up this 1950-set tale. Veteran writer-director Bruce Beresford (Driving Miss Daisy, Paradise Road, Mao's Last Dancer) does a magnificent job of bringing the period and setting to life and Wendy Cork's (Winchester) costuming and Sophie Nash's (The Light Between Oceans) art direction are top notch.

Beresford, aided by Sue Milliken (previously best known as a producer on the likes of Sirens and Black Robe), has also skilfully distilled the themes from within Madeleine St John's 1993 book (which was also turned into a musical featuring music and lyrics by our own Tim Finn in 2015), while also making the story feel timely.

Ladies in Black looks at the lives and loves of the staff of Sydney department store F.G. Goodes.

In fact, it's a double whammy in 2018, with focuses on both attitudes to immigration and women striving for independence and advancement in all its many forms. Plus, there's also a light-hearted examination of the rivalry between Sydney and Melbourne.

Helping deliver the messages, laughs and tears are a strong ensemble cast that also includes Jessica Jones' Rachael Taylor, Home and Away's Alison McGirr and Wentworth's Susie Porter.

These ladies might be dressed in black during their working hours, but their stories and personas are colourfully entertaining.