In My Father's Den
Paul Prior (Matthew Macfadyen), a disillusioned and battle-weary war photographer, decides to return home to an isolated town in the South Island of New Zealand. His brother Andrew (Colin Moy), a local ostrich farmer, is caught off-guard by Paul's sudden reappearance after 17 years away. Worlds apart, they barely recognise each other. Andrew, a pious man, pressures Paul into staying to help sort out the sale of their father's cottage and the adjoining orchard. Andrew is married to the highly religious Penny (Miranda Otto).
Reluctantly revisiting the dilapidated family property, Paul discovers the old den tucked away in the equipment shed. It belonged to his orchardist father Jeff (Matthew Chamberlain) who, away from his puritanical wife Iris (Vanessa Riddell), had secretly harboured a love of wine, literature and free-thinking philosophy. When Paul as a child had accidentally stumbled upon this wondrous booklined universe, he had been included in his father's secret, promising never to tell anyone about it.
Jonathan, an aspiring photographer, was given a camera by Paul and used it to take pictures of an unknowing Celia; Andrew found them and took the camera and the photos. Penny stumbled upon them in Andrew's desk, and assumed Celia was Andrew's lover.
Jonathan calls the police, and Andrew, taking the blame for his wife, is arrested. Celia's body is found in a river, and after the funeral, Paul burns the den and reconciles with Jackie. The film closes with a flashback to the last time Paul saw Celia; they openly talk about being siblings, and they say goodbye as she walks down the road to her untimely death.
mystery, murder