Stan is kicking off 2019 with the new Aussie drama Bloom – so should you be bingeing it on New Years Day?
When the series opens, we are taken to the small country town of Mullari where flood is raging, threatening to wash the town off the map and taking five lives in the process. We are introduced to Ray Reed (Bryan Brown, The Light Between Oceans and Red Dog: True Blue), who’s looking after his wife Gwen (Jackie Weaver, Silver Linings Playbook and Animal Kingdom).
Fast forward a year and Gwen has been transferred into a care facility due to her worsening Alzheimer’s. We are also introduced to Max McKinnon (John Stanton, McLeod’s Daughters and The Doctor Blake Mysteries), a struggling farmer who also happens to be Gwen’s old boyfriend, still sour about losing Gwen to Ray.
With the residents still reeling from the flood and the lives lost, a mysterious new arrival, Sam (Ryan Corr, Holiding The Man and Ladies In Black), who steals, seduces and runs wild, as well as befriending a young boy Isaac Langlan (Thomas Fisher, The Time Of Our Lives and Underbelly Files: Chopper), who is desperately searching for his missing mother.
But everything in Mullari is about to change when a mysterious new plant appears with the power to restore youth. All sounds great in theory, but the long-term effects of the plant wreak havoc on the town, and you’ll want to be watching to see the drama unfold.
Other residents of the town include Senior Constable Dave ‘Griffo’ Griffiths (Daniel Henshell, The Babadook and The Beautiful Lie), who’s married to baker Tina (Nikki Shiels, The Eye Of The Storm and Neighbours), plus highly-strung town matriarch Loris Webb (Anne Charleston, Neighbours and Emmerdale), who lost her brother in the flood. And these are just some of the key cast to keep an eye on as the story of Mullari develops across the series.
Bloom’s casting is top notch and full of famous faces who each get their moment to shine. The script by Glen Doleman is a delightful and engaging one that you can’t help but be drawn into from the very first moments. The four leads – Jackie Weaver, Bryan Brown, John Stanton and Ryan Corr – elevate the already compelling premise into a must-see drama, and the rejuvenated cast, led by Phoebe Tonkin (The Originals and H20: Just Add Water), Sam Reid (Prime Suspect 1973 and The Astronaut Wives Club) and Rod Mullinar (Reef Doctors and True Story With Hamish & Andy), deliver their fair share of scene-stealing moments.
This is the one everyone will be talking about after the Christmas and New Years break, so be sure to make time for it.
5/5 Stars
Bloom premieres January 1 on Stan
