Harry Beecham (Sam Neill) has waited two years for Sybylla (Judy Davis) to agree to marry. As drought grips the land again, he comes for an answer, but Sybylla explains why she cannot.

The song ‘Size 10’, written and sung by Robyn Archer, plays while women look into distorting mirrors, seeing themselves first as fat and then as skinny.

The filmmakers draw the title of the film on their naked bodies. By throwing a tomato on the lens, they remind the viewer that all images are constructed.

Sybylla Melvyn (Judy Davis) tells younger sister Gertie (Marion Shad) of her desire to escape a life of rural drudgery. Her frustrations increase when she’s sent to drag her father out of the pub.

While staying with her well-to-do grandmother, Sybylla (Judy Davis) has a crisis about her looks.