Against the backdrop of a hot St. Valentine's Day in early-1900s Victoria, the stern Mrs Appleyard's girls from the strict Appleyard College prepare for a field trip to Hanging Rock--the majestic volcanic formation near Mount Macedon. Under the scorching sun, three students--Miranda, Marion, and Irma--receive permission to explore the rock only to go missing later that day, and what is even more disturbing, when a fourth girl, Edith, returns screaming, the school teacher, Miss McCraw, disappears without a trace. The four women seem to have vanished into thin air. What has truly happened in Hanging Rock's deep and sharp crevices?—Nick Riganas