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Rachel Roberts, Dominic Guard, Vivean Gray, Helen Morse, Kirsty Child ... see more see more... , Karen Robson , Christine Schuler , Jenny Lovell , Janet Murray , Bridgette Phillips , John Fegan , Peter Collingwood , Olga Dickie , Frank Gunnell , John Jarratt , Anne-Louise Lambert , Tony Llewellyn-Jones. , Barbara Lloyd , Ingrid Mason , Margaret Nelson , Dafydd Wyn Roberts , Kay Taylor , Jane Vallis , Martin Vaughan , Jacki Weaver , Garry McDonald , Nacho Media , Marko Mihailovic , Irene Paumard , Alejandro Rodríguez , Sveta Zhukovska , Anthony Llewellyn-Jones

Peter Weir's haunting and evocative mystery is set in the Australia of 1900, a mystical place where the British have attempted to impose their Christian culture with such tweedy refinements as a girls... read more read more...' boarding school. After gauzily-photographed, nicely underplayed scenes of the girls' budding sexuality being restrained in Victorian corsets, the uptight headmistress (Rachel Roberts) takes them on a Valentine's Day picnic into the countryside, and several of the girls, led by the lovely Miranda (Anne Lambert) decide to explore a nearby volcanic rock formation. It's a desolate, primitive, vaguely menacing place, where one can almost feel the presence of ancient pagan spirits. Something -- and there is an unspoken but palpable emphasis on the inherent carnality of the place -- draws four of the girls to explore the rock. Three never return. No one ever finds out why. The repercussions for the school are tragic, and of course Roberts reacts with near-crazed anger, but what really happened? Weir gives enough clues to suggest any number of explanations, both physical and supernatural. ~ Robert Firsching, Rovi

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83% liked it

9,237 ratings

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90% liked it

31 critics

PG, 1 hr. 55 min.

Directed by: Peter Weir, Gerardo Herrero Pereda

Release Date: February 2, 1975

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DVD Release Date: October 20, 1998

Stats: 881 reviews

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Flixster Reviews (881)

  • blkbomb
    December 11, 2011
    blkbomb
    Miranda: Everything begins and ends at the exact right time and place. 

    "A recollection of evil."

    Picnic at Hanging Rock is like nothing you would expect. It has a horror film plot, but it never turns into a horror film. It's haunting, sure, but never terrifying, and I am perfe... read morectly fine with that. What the movie is, is a brilliantly subtle piece of filmmaking. The atmosphere during the Hanging Rock scenes is amazing and the cinematography throughout the whole movie is perfect. The movie turns into a realistic missing persons story. Shit happens in this world that will never be explained. This story is told with that belief. Stuff happens, and we will never know the outcome. People are abducted and killed daily and some of them we will never find and we will never completely know the truth about what happened to them. Was it a human being? Was it something otherworldly? Who's to say? That's what this movie is all about.

    A group of students at a girls college in 1900 Australia go for a picnic at Hanging Rock. Four students go away from the group and start exploring the rock formations. Even as we watch them, we have no real idea what is going on, as they disappear behind a rock never to be seen again. One student doesn't follow them and makes it back fine. A teacher goes looking for the missing students and is also never seen again. From there, search parties are put out and the girls wonder what happened to their classmates. But you get the sense that everyone knows it is a lost cause.

    There's a lot to love if you can stand the extremely slow and eventless pacing of the film. I could to a certain extent, but I found myself, at times, getting very far away from the movie. I couldn't concentrate on the film the whole time, but I could always come back and get right back into the film. With more viewings I think I would like it a lot more. 

    This movie kind of reminds me of an event prior to The Blair Witch Project. It's the unexplained that leads people to always want answers, but they never will be able to get them and if they try, they too will become part of the mystery. From everything you hear about this movie, it is weird that once you finally watch it, it is nothing like what you expected. Still, it is as haunting a movie as you could ever wish to see, without ever actually being scared.
  • SirPant
    September 26, 2011
    SirPant
    Hitchcock once said "The terror isn't in the bang but in the anticipation of it". That rang true as far as I'm concerned with Picnic at Hanging Rock. There may not have been a bang but that's kind of the point. The intrigue and suspense in this film is never really uncomfortable,... read more it's often quite alluring but as curious the conclusion may be, you almost don't want to know what really happened. That and the beautiful cinematography, haunting soundtrack and steady pace make this something rather special and unforgettable.
  • YosemiteSamFan
    January 9, 2011
    YosemiteSamFan
    This movie spooked me out with its haunted story of missing schoolgirls and one of their teachers in the Australian wilderness. There's something inexplicably mysterious and evil at Hanging Rock; I'd be scared to go to the actual location where they made this movie. Peter Weir's ... read morefilm is something special. The scenery is quiet, warm and beautiful at first, but then it turns frightening, like a trap was set off when the girls entered it. Stuck in my mind is the final view of the three girls walking up the path into the rocky opening. The desperate piano and haunting pan pipe music, combined with the low rumbling sound effects really sets the eerie mood. There is something wrong permeating the entire movie, as if it was cursing the viewers. What happened there? The second half of the movie suggests different things, but, as many have said, the more they reveal, the more of a mystery it becomes. Any definite answers or closure would make the movie forgettable. I can see how the Blair Witch Project got some of its ideas here. If those schoolgirls had a camcorder, what would it have captured?
  • LorenzoVonMatterhorn
    November 19, 2010
    LorenzoVonMatterhorn
    "What we see and what we seem are but a dream, a dream within a dream."

    A story about the disappearance of several Appleyard College students, and a teacher, from Hanging Rock.

    REVIEW

    Peter Wei... read morer's Picnic at Hanging Rock is a very realistic film, which becomes a fantasy by using a device so simple, it's brilliant. Something is shown to us; then it is taken away in a manner that denies logical explanation to the viewer and the characters alike. Picnic at Hanging Rock spends a fair amount of time committed to creating a garden of eden through the camera. The grass is tall, the leaves are green, the flowers are blooming, birds sing, streams glisten in the sun, all of which is over looked by a very rugged, archaic rock formation, with erosion holes that almost form faces if you look close enough.

    Picnic at Hanging Rock's decision to embrace anti-conventional realism possibly owes something to the likes of new-wave film makers like Antonioni, Godard, Truffaut, all of whom want to put distance between the screen and the viewer. But for this film, that won't do. Yes it needs to be realistic, but it also needs the viewer's investment. Picnic at Hanging Rock will not have you turn away, I can guarantee that. This is not a bleak film like L'Avventura, this is an enriching and haunting piece of work which makes true statements. When something goes wrong, everybody wants an answer. Weir sells it to us flawlessly, never over doing it or under doing it. As impressive as the movie is, it's not quite great. The performance quality feels over-mannered and the last quarter or so of the movie, feels a bit draggy, choosing to spend time with some of the less interesting characters.

    I should probably mention now, that this is a movie supposedly based on true events, events which remain unanswered. So all the better it is then that the movie remains also unanswered. Picnic at Hanging Rock, is easily and delightfully beyond standard classification. It is an art film, but one that values the viewers investment more than it values self-indulgently being a rogue (a frequent complaint about art films) ...this is one worth seeing.
  • webalina
    October 12, 2010
    webalina
    A few minutes into this movie, I was like "Is this what the big deal about this film is? A lot of soft-focus, slow-motion photography (which I have to admit is gorgeously done) of tender young schoolgirls in various stages of undress? PLEASE tell me it's not that lame!" And I had... read more the fear that Peter Weir was making a mountain out of a molehill, that the story of the missing girls was going to be easily explained away. But something changed once the remaining girls made it back to their school. The tension and just general weirdness really ramped up, and by the end (which I'm not giving away here...those of you who have seen it know what I'm talking about) Rachel Roberts as the headmistress had completely creeped me out.

    I've been thinking about this film all day. There are a lot of unanswered questions, but I kinda think that was Peter Weir's intention. I thought about watching the film again, but I think I've seen everything that's there. It's up to me to work out the film for myself, not just of the girls' disappearance but also the relationship between the headmistress and Sarah. This is a film that is going to stick with me.
  • bottcorecords1
    June 16, 2010
    bottcorecords1
    Picnic at Hanging Rock could be an episode of "History's Mysteries" if only it were an actual historical event. It is, however, an entirely fictionalized account of the disappearance of several members of an all girls school from their class excursion to the aussie landmark "Han... read moreging Rock" on Valentine's day, 1900. What makes it strange is not so much that the girls simply wandered away from the group as they seemed to vanish from the face of the earth entirely. I think the period setting lends itself to the bizarre tale, as this situation in modern times would be handled with GPS units and helicopter searches. The rustic setting and minimal search equipment available creates an impression of hopelessness or futility. Director Peter Weir makes a case for supernatural phenomenon, but the film feels dated to the 1970s and the supernatural phase the country went through during that time (Leonard Nemoy's "In Search Of" was a big hit, and kids everywhere kept an eye out for Bigfoot or U.F.O.s). It feels a little like "The Blair Witch Project" meets "The Wicker Man" for some reason. This film has moments of potential greatness, it just fails to act on them and be all it could have been.
  • TomBowler
    December 31, 2009
    TomBowler
    Beautiful and thrilling. Full review later.
  • pier007
    February 26, 2008
    pier007
    Picturesque blend of psychological thriller and victorian drama with interesting atmosphere and symbolisms. however, it is too ambiguous and taciturn for its own good.
  • jjnxn
    September 23, 2007
    jjnxn
    Fascinating mood piece
  • ceWEBrity
    August 8, 2007
    ceWEBrity
    Now here's a fucking weird film. The atmosphere is like...this gorgeous bubble, teetering bizarrely on the brink of popping, but it never does. It's enchanting.

    The unresolved plot and dizzyingly slow pace may alienate most viewers, but it really contributes to the film here.
    ... read more
    I, for one, think the girls got abducted by aliens.

View All Picnic at Hanging Rock Reviews

Critic Reviews

Dave Kehr
August 30, 2010
Dave Kehr, Chicago Reader

Spottily effective. Full Review

Richard Schickel
August 30, 2010
Richard Schickel, TIME Magazine

This horrific tale is told with marvelous shadowy indirection and delicate lyricism. Full Review

Vincent Canby
January 15, 2005
Vincent Canby, New York Times

The story provides Mr. Weir with material for a kind of Australian horror-romance that recalls Nathaniel Hawthorne's preoccupation with the spiritual and moral heritage of his own New England landscape. Full Review

Roger Ebert
January 1, 2000
Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times

A film of haunting mystery and buried sexual hysteria. Full Review

Peter Stack
January 1, 2000
Peter Stack, San Francisco Chronicle

One of the most hauntingly beautiful mysteries ever created on film. Full Review

Renee Schonfeld
May 11, 2012
Renee Schonfeld, Common Sense Media

Eerie, haunting film hints at violence and sexuality Full Review

Brian Costello
May 11, 2012
Brian Costello, Common Sense Media

Eerie, haunting film hints at violence and sexuality. Full Review

August 30, 2010
Film4

A poetic and enigmatic drama that's a classic of Australian cinema. Full Review

Ian Nathan
August 30, 2010
Ian Nathan, Empire Magazine

By turns fascinating and mysterious. Full Review

August 30, 2010
TV Guide's Movie Guide

It's all pretty overheated and underexplained but this arty, vague, and possibly supernatural movie lingers on in the memory. Full Review

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Facts

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    • Miranda: What we see and what we seem are but a dream - a dream within a dream.
    • Constable Jones: There's some questions got answers and some haven't.
    • Miranda: Everything begins and ends at exactly the right time and place.
Submit a Fact | View All

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Picnic at Hanging Rock Trivia

  • True or False: Mel Gibson had a role in Picnic at Hanging Rock.  Answer »
  • This 1975 hit is considered to be Australia's first international No. 1 hit. It is about how several collage students and a teacher disappear while on a picnic. What film is it?  Answer »
  • The soundtrack to Kill Bill features the haunting panpipe melody by Gheorge Zamfir - The Lonely Shepherd. Which other movie does the tune feature in?  Answer »
  • Who was the director of the Australian classic "Picnic at Hanging Rock"?  Answer »
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