Celia is a 1988 Australian Folk Horror movie, and the directorial debut of Ann Turner. It tells the story of a young girl, Celia (Rebecca Smart), growing up in 1950s Australia after the death of her beloved grandmother.
Tropes
- Animal Motifs: Rabbits. There is a rabbit cull going on due to an apparent plague carried by them, Celia's yearning for a rabbit, her repeated drawings of a rabbit, and the rabbit she eventually gets.
- Chummy Commies: Celia adores her grandmother who was a Communist (prior to her death) and becomes equally close with the Tanners, who are criticized and persecuted for their Communist sympathies.
- Dirty Commies: The attitude of everyone else in Celia's town. Her parents are especially anti-Communist.
- Evil-Detecting Dog: Or, well, pet. Celia's rabbit bites Celia's father whenever he holds it.
- Heat Wave: The story takes place over a long hot summer in the 1950s.
- Red Scare: The main thrust of the plot is panic over Communists - or, even Communist sympathies - in small-town rural Australia. Mr Tanner loses his job because of it.
- Plot-Triggering Death: Of Celia's beloved (Communist) grandmother, who she continues to see after her death.
- White Mask of Doom: Celia has one, which she wears whenever she feels especially upset.
