In Natalie Bailey’s Dark Comedy Audrey, a Mother Takes Advantage of Her Daughter’s Coma

Audrey is a dark Australian comedy about Ronnie Lipsick, a former soap star and self-declared mother of the year who sees an opportunity to shine when her teenage daughter, an aspiring actress named Audrey (Josephine Blazier), falls into a coma.

The film's director, Natalie Bailey, doesn't see Ronnie as a bad person — just a realistic one.

"I felt like it was a a bit of a Sliding Doors thing for me," she laughs. "I could have been a bad mom. I never had children, but I could have been a terrible stage mom who it all went bad with, because I was so focused on my career. And then if that would've been taken away from me, what would I do to get it back?"

That's exactly the question Ronnie (What We Do in The Shadows actress Jackie Van Beek) faces in Audrey. When Audrey (Josephine Blazier, True History of the Kelly Gang) is rendered comatose by a freak accident on the family's rooftop, Ronnie steps in by impersonating her daughter — and seeks a second chance at her faltering show business career.

The rest of the family also sees opportunities in Audrey's coma: her father Cormack (Jeremy Lindsay-Taylor, The Dry 2) finally gets to do some sexual experimentation, and her sister Norah (Hannah Diviney, Latecomers), who has cerebral palsy and is constantly left out, finally gets to take center stage.

Bailey, whose TV credits include Absolutely Fabulous, The Thick of It, and Avenue 5, met Audrey writer Lou Sanz at a film speed dating event in Melbourne, Australia, and was immediately won over by the concept. Audrey is Bailey's feature directorial debut, and she's planning her next feature.

Audrey, which just screened at the Palm Springs International Film Festival ahead of its March release, doesn't ask you to like its flawed characters — but it doesn't demonize them, either. The film is a frank, darkly funny look at the gaps between how people are expected to behave and what they secretly desire.

We talked with Bailey about the virtues of speed dating, good and evil, and cutting back on nudity.

A Q&A With Audrey Director Natalie Bailey

MovieMaker: I've never heard of speed dating events actually working. That's really cool. Lou pitched you a few ideas and you said yes?

Natalie Bailey: She pitched me this project, along with a few others, and she's just got such a good sense of humor. And I really liked her as a person. She's an ex-standup and this idea was a wonderful black comedy. ... It was such a blessing to meet her because she's got great career now and ahead of her.

MovieMaker: What was it about the idea for Audrey that appealed to you?

Natalie Bailey: I think it's those inner thoughts that people think but don't say. ... We have private things that we say to people, that people will say to me, and sometimes they would be shocking to someone else, maybe. ... You think, 'Oh, wow, they they must be in a really bad place, that they have to to say that,' but they feel like it's a safe space. So it's nice to sometimes to just show how humans are hiding a lot of what we're feeling.

We're not out to shock people or offend or anything like that with Audrey. That's not the purpose of it. The purpose of it is to go, you know, humans are humans. We can be very selfish if we're allowed to be. But of course, society says, "No."

People are living lives that aren't that weren't the lives that they chose.

MovieMaker: We're sort of pressured to be better people than we are. The family in this movie aren't the worst people in the world, they're just the ones you happen to be focused on. The neighbors might be just as flawed.

Natalie Bailey: Absolutely. None of them are bad people. I feel like they're desperate people. All of them are desperate to be seen, to be loved. That is what they want. For Norah, she just wants to be noticed. She just wants to be included. And that's been something that's a barrier for her. She's seen her sister included, and she hasn't had that. For the father, Cormack, he has lost touch with his sexuality and feeling whole.

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And for Ronnie, whose daughter criticizes her and says, "You were a s--- actress," she wants to prove to herself, "No, I I was good. I can be good, and I was loved." Everyone just wants to be loved, to be seen. And isn't that true in life?

MovieMaker: Do you think Audrey actually is such a terrible person that her coma sets everybody free?

Natalie Bailey: [Laughs] No, she's a teenager. I was probably that bad at times. I think about my parents, and God, I was awful. All kids were awful at some point to our parents, and don't understand what our parents are going through — depression, financial troubles — which is what this family is ultimately going through.

For Audrey, we wanted the audience to feel, 'Oh, God, she's terrible.' But then also acknowledge that this is just a time in your life where, generally, selfishness is almost at its peak, in the teenage years, when you're trying to shape yourself.

MovieMaker: You cover so many issues where you could go wrong and offend people. Did you get any notes that you chose to just ignore?

Natalie Bailey: No, we were really, really lucky. I've worked in television for years where, of course, you have to listen to a lot of notes come back from executives, and sometimes you end up swimming in it, going, "I don't even know what this project is anymore," because they're fearing of this style or this idea. So it was really, really refreshing to do something where we had a lot more autonomy.

We did have the sales agents on board and some of the distributors on board early on in the project, before we filmed it. So there were drafts that we changed and notes we listened to. I think the major one, and I absolutely agree with them — I don't want to give too much away, but there's nudity in it, and I wanted to be kind of real and see real bodies. ... and we did have to take out some nudity.

But that was for two reasons, because we were told it would be the difference between an 18 and a 15 [age limit in Australia]. And of course, we want more people to see it. And that was mainly to do with me going, "Well, why do men get to hide more than women get to hide, in a sense, on screen, right?" And the other reason was, we actually did a a test screening, and the audience just found there was too much. The most liberal of people found it it too much. So that's when we listened and went, "Okay, alright."

MovieMaker: What was your biggest obstacle in making the film, and how did you overcome it?

Natalie Bailey: Casting was the absolute obstacle for two reasons. One was finding Norah. Lou is very big, and so am I, on inclusive casting. The character was essentially based on someone she knew, I believe, who had cerebral palsy and and was very witty. So she just took that person's essence and went, Oh, I'd love to create this character who is kind of treated, by the family, the opposite of how you'd expect them to be treated.

She thought, wouldn't it be interesting to have Norah, who you'd think would be the one who needed all the help and support — and should be the one getting all the help and support — but actually, her friends and her family expect her to be independent and just think, "She's okay. She's fine. She's doing alright by herself."

So finding her was really difficult, because there's not much disability represented on screen and in theaters — though it's getting better now, you can start to see it. Actors with disability haven't seen themselves, and so don't fall into the profession of of acting. So finding her was really difficult. Not only did she have to be an actor with cerebral palsy or another disability, but she also had to look like a teenager, and be witty and able to land a joke.

So finding Hannah was actually probably our most difficult challenge, and when we found her, she was amazing. She just burst onto the scene, and had just done her first acting job, and she's brilliant. ... She's a disability advocate and writer and interviewer. She's fantastic.

And everyone wants the film to be seen, so they they're desperate to try make sure the leads are the most known person, or one of your cast is really well known. We did at different times have big names attached, but scheduling always gets in the way of that. At the end, you find the right person, hopefully for your role. And we did with Jackie Van Beek. No one else could have done it like she did.

Sunrise Films has acquired U.S. rights to Audrey and will soon announce the March 2025 general release. 

Main image: Jackie Van Beek, left, and Josephine Blazier on the set. Sunrise Films.