With the imminent release of The Devil Wears Prada 2, I thought I would be fitting to finally give in and watch a film on Amazon Prime that I have been avoiding: The Dressmaker (2015).  My reason for avoiding it is mainly because of Kate Winslet, who plays Myrtle “Tilly” Dunnage, the title clothing designer.  In most every film in which she appears, there is typically a topless scene.  One of my oft repeated criticisms of such material is how unnecessary they are to any given plot.  And yes, my Faith plays a role in my objection.  While I am thankful I did not have to subject myself to such a sequence with this one, I do have other problems with the material, even if it has some useful moments.

The Dressmaker is returning to her small hometown in rural Australia at the beginning in order to solve some problems from her past.  Because the incident that led to her being sent away as a ten-year-old (Darcey Wilson) is told in scattered flashbacks, I will get it out of the way here so that you get a better sense of her inner turmoil.  Her mother, Molly Dunnage (Judy Davis), is known as “mad,” and people think of her as have loose morals and thighs.  This reputation makes young Molly the target of ire, even from her teacher, Beulah Harridiene (Kerry Fox).  Tilly’s main tormentor is Stewart Pettyman (Rory Potter).  Getting Tilly alone, Stewart is about to headbutt her in the abdomen with a running start when she jumps aside at the last moment.  Beulah finds the boy dead and claims that Tilly had murdered him.  The result is Tilly being sent away.  In the course of becoming an adult, she had moved in the circles of high fashion in Europe, but the entire time she has felt cursed.  Now she has come home to try to lift the curse, and it starts with Molly.  Miraculously, mom is still alive, having been in a state of neglect for years.  She claims not to recognize her daughter.  Regardless, Tilly has arrived to help her mother, but to also try to remember that fateful day that, early on, remains fuzzy.  That is the main plan, but she is also not going to sit in the house all day.  Instead, she goes about in their society, and makes her presence officially known at the local Australian rules football match.  Her flashy red dress turns heads, getting the town’s team captain, Teddy McSwiney (Liam Hemsworth), to ask her to tone down her look.  One of the locals who recognizes her is Gerturde “Trudy” Pratt (Sarah Snook).  She had been a classmate of Tilly’s, and Trudy does not think what someone wears makes a difference.  After proving Trudy wrong with a wardrobe change and a victory in the game, Tilly agrees to make an outfit for the store clerk.  The new threads for Trudy represent an opportunity to make her crush, William Beaumont (James Mackay), notice her.  The plan works, being unveiled at the local dance and resulting in William asking her for a turn.  Soon, everyone is coming to Tilly with clothing requests.  The only request Teddy has is for her to go out with him.  She puts him off for a while, but eventually gives in, going to a movie with him and Molly.  That mom is along for the date marks a shift in her relationship with her daughter.  All the same, there are some in the area that do not want to let go of the past, and their first answer is to invite a new dressmaker, Una Pleasance (Sacha Horler), to set up shop.  It is considered a coup when Trudy asks Una to make her wedding dress, though it is more the idea of William’s mother, Elsbeth Beaumont (Caroline Goodall).  In the middle of the fitting, seeing the outrageous design, Trudy runs away to Tilly’s house and gets the right style.  In the midst of the matrimony preparations, Tilly is given further insight into Stewart’s death.  From the cross-dressing police chief, Sergeant Horatio Farrat (Hugo Weaving), Tilly learns that Beulah had lied about what she had seen.  Tilly confronts her old teacher instead of attending the ceremony, but Beulah remains defiant.  Going to the wedding, she tries to get Sergeant Farrat to side with her, but Beulah has informed Stewart’s mother, Marigold Pettyman (Alison Whyte), that Tilly is guilty.  The unstable mom cries murder and everyone turns on Tilly.  Further, Sergeant Farrat reveals that Marigold’s philandering husband, Evan Pettyman (Shane Bourne), is Tilly’s father.  Because of this parental privilege, it had been Evan who had been responsible for sending Tilly away.  The person who comforts her is Teddy, and they spend the night together.  Unfortunately, they go up to the top of the grain elevator to star gaze, only to end with him suffocating when he jumps down into a vat of sorghum.  Once again, she is blamed, but it is Molly that comes to her aid.  Trying to make up for lost time, she gets her one friend, Irma Almanac (Julia Blake), to send a letter to a neighboring town to have Tilly design costumes for a theater contest.  Sadly, Molly dies shortly thereafter, and Tilly is suspected of giving Irma weed brownies.  Sergeant Farrat takes the blame for the drugged sweets, as well as finally admitting publicly to enjoying women’s clothes, resulting in his dismissal.  With all her allies gone, there is little left for Tilly to do but leave.  Yet, she does not go quietly.  During a visit with Marigold, Tilly reveals Evan’s cheating and the designer’s actual identity.  Once Evan returns from work that night, Marigold murders her.  Next, with everyone going to the costume contest, Tilly burns down the entire village and calmly boards a train.

Between arson and murder, you can see why I might have other complaints with The Dressmaker than Winslet getting naked, which does not happen.  When she lights her house on fire, she proclaims her curse to be lifted, and that is something else that is challenging for a practicing Catholic.  Simply put, believing in such things is not Christian because it attributes coincidental, random occurrences a power on equal footing with God.  What is more, Teddy demonstrates to Tilly that there is no need to think of herself as being extraordinarily unlucky because Stewart had accidentally killed himself.  The reality is that bad things happen to good people, and it is one of those mysteries that troubles most people when it comes to Faith.  It should also be noted that God is briefly mentioned in the film, but only in the most stereotypical ways that make religion sound like the purview of bigots.  That, too, is a problem with the movie.  No matter what is going on in someone’s life, everything that happens is an opportunity to grow in your relationship with the Almighty.  If it is a blessing, thank Him.  If you are ostracized from your community because of a murder you did not commit, seek His love all the more.  Again, we have trouble understanding why these things occur, but what I can say is that the townsfolk do not treat Tilly, or her mother, in a Christ-like fashion.  They let their unforgiveness of a troubled family continue to be a plague about them for years.  If anything, that is the curse, not anything going on with Tilly.  Regardless, their behavior is not a reason for revenge.  We react poorly to difficult to handle situations, and this is how I would characterize Tilly’s actions.  They make sense with what she has been through, but God asks us to do better.

You could also do better than to watch The Dressmaker.  Perhaps that is being too harsh?  As I have said, it is not as bad as I thought it would be.  Tilly’s care for Molly is commendable, too.  At the same time, Tilly could have used better judgement, which is why I would make other cinematic choices.