Lantana

Four Australian couples become physically and emotionally entangled during a missing persons investigation in this slowly writhing, compelling character study. The film’s title and core metaphor refers to the gnarled tropical shrub in which exotic flowers and lush green leaves camouflage its dense undergrowth of thorny branches. The story becomes a breeding ground of secrets, deceit, betrayal and guilt as a detective, a psychiatrist, a divorcee, a working mother and their spouses flounder in a world in which love alone is sometimes not enough to keep marriages from withering. The excellent cast includes Anthony LaPaglia, Kerry Armstrong, Barbara Hershey and Geoffrey Rush. Directed by Ray Lawrence and adapted to the screen by Andrew Bovell from his play Speaking in Tongues.