Peter Weir’s classic Australian movie Picnic at Hanging Rock (1975), which is based on Joan Lindsay's novel of the same name, has fascinated mystery fans for nearly five decades. And so have the questions surrounding this story of the mysterious disappearance of three girls and a teacher from a picnic at the famous geological site of Hanging Rock in Victoria on Valentine’s Day in the year 1900. What really happened in this story and why? How does it make sense?

These questions of interpretation remain as various analyses of the movie have been offered, notably centered on the repressed and tightly guarded female sexuality as the norm at the time. The unexplained disappearance of the girls and the teacher, the return of one of the lost girls, the dreams and imagery, and the death of two ot...

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