Director John Duigan began the coming-of-age story of Danny Embling in the wonderful The Year My Voice Broke, and continues it in this even more enjoyable and moving comedy drama. Noah Taylor reprises his role as the boy who moves from his small Australian outback town to an all-boys boarding school. Across the lake is an all-girls school, and it is during one of the occasions where the two schools get together that he meets and falls in love with a beautiful Ugandan pupil (Thandie Newton, making her film debut). A true gem, Duigan's film is also notable for a brief appearance by Nicole Kidman, back on her native soil.

Two freethinking teenagers - a boy and a girl - confront with authoritarian teachers in their boarding schools. The other students treat this differently.