The Dressmaker

Play trailer

2:07

The Dressmaker

R

Released Sep 23, 2016

1h 53m

Comedy

Drama

Mystery & Thriller

Play Trailer

Watchlist

Watchlist

Tomatometer

Popcornmeter

60%

Tomatometer

141 Reviews

66%

Popcornmeter

10,000+ Ratings

Accused of murder when she was a child, a dressmaker (Kate Winslet) returns to her small Australian town to seek revenge on the locals who did her wrong.

Watch on Fandango at Home

Buy Now

Critics Consensus

The Dressmaker boasts a strong central performance by Kate Winslet and a captivating array of narrative weirdness -- all of which may or may not be a comfortable fit with viewers.

Read Critics Reviews

Sara Michelle Fetters

MovieFreak.com

Moorhouse's willingness to push the envelope and dive into the darkest aspects of the tale with such macabre relish allows the emotions swirling within this maelstrom to resonate all the deeper.

Rated: 3.5/4

Oct 7, 2016

Full Review

Adam Graham

Detroit News

There's plenty to admire here, especially if your taste is tailored to the unusual.

Rated: B

Sep 30, 2016

Full Review

Kimberley Jones

Austin Chronicle

The Dressmaker's twists are best experienced blind, and its treats are modest but genuine.

Rated: 3.5/5

Sep 29, 2016

Full Review

Adrián Monserrat

EscribiendoCine

In a melodrama that paints a vivid caricature of a town and its secrets, Winslet shines like a star who gets better with each role... [Full review in Spanish]

Rated: 6/10

Apr 30, 2024

Full Review

Don Shanahan

Every Movie Has a Lesson

Not all of the fits and starts of many, many dalliances of the film end up working, but the presence of Oscar winner Kate Winslet demands attention.

Rated: 2/5

Apr 7, 2024

Full Review

Brian T. Carney

Washington Blade

A delightful feminist take on the spaghetti Western.

Dec 21, 2022

Full Review

Read all reviews

Dean W

Unexpected. Delightful.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

03/17/25

Full Review

Alex S

This is seriously one of the best films ever. Incredibly underrated, everything about this film is enticing and whitty and just beautiful. It’s quite heartbreaking but has a completely unique and perfect ending. Usually i am left wanting more from a movie at the end, but it’s just so perfectly rounded. 11/10. Some of Kate’s best work.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

03/08/25

Full Review

Patrick L

Revenge writ large on small minded townies. Loved it. Hash brownies and all.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

01/03/25

Full Review

Cal E

I thought it was fascinating, but I also think there were missed opportunities. It felt like a rom com at first and mostly followed those tropes--so imagine my surprise when it suddenly took a left turn and suddenly death was everywhere! I'm not quite sure what to make of this film even if I enjoyed it overall. It's a suitable rom com (though I would have liked more of an interesting love interest, which could be said of many rom coms) and the end "not rom com at all" result of the film was satisfying even if I'm not entirely certain the *entire* town was complicit. Definitely worth a viewing and well shot.

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

12/17/24

Full Review

Audience Member

Kate Winslet knows how to bring the life, the pain, the fear and the love, the emotion of the character. The movie it self is so relatable, you can’t help yourself that you become Tilly at the end after watching the movie.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

11/11/24

Full Review

Hugh S

The Dressmaker is very much an Australian movie similiar to Pricilla. It is biting period satire and very much a statement about the small mindedness and perfidious undercurrent of some communities. The acting is sublime as are the costumes that provide a vehicle to the story. The Dressmaker is not well understood because it is no superficial comedy or some sort of western. It is far richer. As a consequence the ratings vary wildly from 5 stars to 1 star but then that is the vapid nature of many modern audience that watch the Marvel rubbish. And yes it is hilarious ...frequently but the humour is a counter point to what is really going on. Easily one of Kate's best performances... and what did the writer base the story on? It smells all too real.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

07/26/24

Full Review

Read all reviews

Read More

Read Less

POST RATING

WRITE A REVIEW

EDIT REVIEW

Jocelyn Moorhouse

Director

Kate Winslet

Myrtle "Tilly" Dunnage

Judy Davis

Molly Dunnage

Liam Hemsworth

Teddy McSwiney

Hugo Weaving

Sergeant Farrat

Sarah Snook

Gertrude Pratt

The Family Fang

84%

48%

The Family Fang

Watchlist

TRAILER

for The Family Fang

The New Girlfriend

80%

62%

The New Girlfriend

Watchlist

The Last Time

35%

39%

The Last Time

Watchlist

Norman: The Moderate Rise and Tragic Fall of a New York Fixer

87%

56%

Norman: The Moderate Rise and Tragic Fall of a New York Fixer

Watchlist

TRAILER

for Norman: The Moderate Rise and Tragic Fall of a New York Fixer

Death of a Telemarketer

27%

39%

Death of a Telemarketer

Watchlist

TRAILER

for Death of a Telemarketer

Discover more movies and TV shows.

View More

The Dressmaker: US Release Trailer

2:07

The Dressmaker: International Trailer 1

2:11

View more videos

View more photos

Synopsis

Accused of murder when she was a child, a dressmaker (Kate Winslet) returns to her small Australian town to seek revenge on the locals who did her wrong.

Director: Jocelyn Moorhouse
Producer: Sue Maslin
Screenwriter: Jocelyn Moorhouse, P.J. Hogan
Distributor: Broad Green Pictures, Amazon Studios
Production Co: Embankment Films, Screen Australia, Film Art Media, Ingenious Senior Film Fund, White Hot Productions
Rating: R (Brief Language|A Scene of Violence)
Genre: Comedy, Drama, Mystery & Thriller
Original Language: Australian English
Release Date (Theaters): Sep 23, 2016, Limited
Release Date (Streaming): Dec 13, 2016
Box Office (Gross USA): $2.0M
Runtime: 1h 53m

Most Popular at Home Now