Mental

Mental is a 2012 Australian comedy-drama film written and directed by P. J. Hogan. The film stars Toni Collette, Anthony LaPaglia, Liev Schreiber, and Rebecca Gibney. It follows a hitchhiker transforming a family's life when she becomes the nanny of five teenage girls whose mother has cracked from her husband's political ambitions and his infidelity. Mental premiered as the closing film at the 61st Melbourne International Film Festival on 18 August 2012 and was theatrically released in Australia on 4 October 2012. It earned eight nominations at the 2nd AACTA Awards. Plot Shirley Moochmoore is a sweet misfit and mother of five daughters who are all convinced they suffer from various mental illnesses. Living in the Australian coastal suburb of Dolphin Heads and married to the often absent local politician Barry, Shirley retreats into a fantasy world of her favourite musical, The Sound of Music. After she manically orders a huge amount of furniture, telling neighbours her husband won it on a TV game show, she's sent to a mental institution. Barry, in his embarrassment, instructs his daughters to say she's "on holiday in Wollongong".