Mental reunites writer-director P.J. Hogan with his original leading lady Toni Collette for the first time since Muriel’s Wedding. Mental is set in rural Queensland and the characters’ accents are fabulously cringe-worthy. The film tracks a family in crisis when a busy politician father ships his stressed-out wife to a mental hospital. Unable to cope with his five girls alone, he picks up a hitchhiker to be their nanny. Hogan admits the film is part autobiographical, with several characters based on his family and friends.
