In this brutally hilarious black comedy, an Aussie teen’s coma is her family’s time to shine.

Eighteen years ago, Ronnie Lipsick was poised for acting success … until her daughter Audrey came along. Ronnie has lavished years – and the family’s finances – on moulding the boisterous, petulant teenager into the star she almost was, ignoring her sexually frustrated husband Cormack and her younger daughter Norah’s interest in wheelchair fencing. When Audrey has the absolute gall to fall into a coma, Ronnie decides to impersonate her, stepping in to all of Audrey’s auditions and acting classes. Meanwhile, Cormack embraces his tastes for religious-themed kink, and Norah finally gets her sport rolling (while also cosying up to Audrey’s boyfriend). It's amazing what the Lipsicks can achieve with their disagreeable golden child out of the way!

Penned by multi-award-winning screenwriter Lou Sanz, the feature debut from director Natalie Bailey (Retrograde; The Thick of It), which world-premiered at SXSW, is a deliciously dark comedy about a dysfunctional family trapped in the web of lies they’ve woven to fabricate happiness. As Ronnie, Kiwi funny-woman Jackie van Beek (Nude Tuesday; The Breaker Upperers) leads a game cast who embrace the deviousness of this satire about the clash between obligation and self-actualisation, and how opportunity can be mined from misfortune. Supported by the MIFF Premiere Fund, Audrey audaciously dramatises the lengths some are willing to go to follow their dreams.

“Razor sharp … A surprising delight with both its heart and head in the right place.” – The Playlist

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Director Natalie Bailey, writer Lou Sanz, and cast members Jackie van Beek, Jeremy Lindsay Taylor, Josephine Blazier and Hannah Diviney are guests of the festival and will be in attendance at the Friday 16 and Sunday 18 August Melbourne sessions of the film. Diviney will also appear at Consuming Culture on Saturday 17 August.

The session on 18 August is Sensory Friendly. This session will run a little differently to a standard session. To learn about what these changes are, you can check out MIFF’s Access page and review the Sensory Friendly Guide, which will be uploaded here closer to the session date.