The film depicts the emotional and poetic story of a beautiful young woman, Elise, who is haunted by a tragic event in her youth.

As she attempts to piece together the mystery of her sister's disappearance at the beach, 20 years before when both were children, Elise must face dark family secrets that have remained unspoken.

The Adelaide Film Festival reviewer praised Imbruglia's "impressive" performance and continued to state that "The beach and the missing child are both motifs which have a powerful place in Australian culture as well as having a particularly local resonance.

The reviewer concluded with exemplary comments on the technical aspects of the film, describing it as "first class", and going on to say, "Kim Batterham's striking widescreen imagery casts a warm glow over the youthful summer flashbacks, with tighter, cooler framing for Elise's troubled present.

Rita Zanchetta's outstanding production design features Dorothy's house as a time-frozen mausoleum of anguish that creaks and groans with what seems to be its own shallow breath.