From a dimly lit studio, an anonymous podcaster tells the story of a city that lost control of its own narrative. Adelaide was founded as a utopian ideal, but that promise shattered when five children vanished in broad daylight — the Beaumont children in 1966, and Joanne Ratcliffe and Kirste Gordon in 1973. No bodies were found. No evidence. No one was charged. Those unanswered disappearances fractured the city’s psyche and ushered in a wave of brutal crimes that followed. Now, two citizen-led investigations reopen these emblematic cases, driven by the belief that if the first wounds can finally be solved, the city might begin to understand itself. What begins as a hopeful search fractures into conflicting stories, psychics, and spectacle — revealing how a mystery that never ends exposes far more about the living than the dead.
Matthew Bate is a founding member of Closer Productions. His feature films include Shut Up Little Man! An Audio Misadventure ( Sundance 2011), Sam Klemke’s Time Machine (Sundance 2015, AWGIE Award for Best Feature Script), and The Defenders (Audience Award, SFF 2023). Matt’s short film I Want to Dance Better at Parties won the 2013 Dendy Award, and his VR project Summation of Force premiered at Sundance’s New Frontier in 2018. In 2020, he co-created and wrote the ABC comedy series Aftertaste. Most recently Matt wrote and directed the six-part television series Eat The Invaders, hosted by Tony Armstrong.
