Synopsis

Promise Me is the final instalment of ABC TV’s critically acclaimed and multi award-winning drama Redfern Now.

The film explores the impact of a violent crime on two women. In separate instances, the women are brutally raped by the same man and the story explores how they regain themselves, the process of that pain and its impact, not only on them but on everyone around them.

The women, who have very different responses to the assaults, will be familiar to those who have seen the series of self-contained dramas, as they've previously featured in its richly textured community.

Robyn, a single mother and the daughter of local policeman Aaron, is heading home after a night out with her girlfriends. When they can't get a taxi, they decide to walk and Robyn is attacked. She resolves to tell no one about the crime, although her father discovers the truth. Dismayed by her decision, Aaron agrees to respect Robyn's wishes and remain silent.

Lorraine, a mother of four, separated from her husband Raymond and working two jobs to pay off a debt to the government, is subsequently attacked as she returns from her night job cleaning offices. She's shocked and shaken but has no hesitation about reporting the assault, even though her friend Peter warns her that this is going to be really tough and she might not get the outcome that she's expecting.

When I read [the script] I went, ‘Oh my goodness, this is big!

— Deborah Mailman, actress ^[1]