Source : the age
My Brilliant Career ★★★★
Just a month ago, Netflix’s adaptation of Little House on the Prairie flamed the culture wars with its more inclusive take on the beloved semi-autobiographical stories by Laura Ingalls Wilder about life as a US pioneer in the 1800s.
The streamer’s take on Australian classic My Brilliant Career also introduces fresh perspectives and storylines, including Indigenous, Chinese-Australian and queer characters who certainly weren’t present in Miles Franklin’s landmark 1901 novel, or the 1979 film by Gillian Armstrong starring Judy Davis and Sam Neill. The 2024 stage musical’s diverse cast added room for interpretation, though this is far more explicit.
This may prove naive, but it’s hard to imagine we’ll see similar outrage when My Brilliant Career’s six episodes arrive on Netflix. That’s because the original novel, for all its bucolic descriptions of 1890s regional Australia, is fundamentally a text about defiance.
More than a century later, Franklin’s novel still surges with the same urgent passions and dreams of its protagonist, Sybylla Melvyn – a boisterous teenage girl determined to live a life of artistic greatness who sees marriage as a subjugation.
It makes sense, then, that this adaptation from Liz Doran (Please Like Me, Barons) extends this rebellious streak, turning My Brilliant Career into a fuller exploration of colonial Australia’s oppressive forces. At its centre, though, is Sybylla, an uncouth ball of energy played by Philippa Northeast (Territory, The Newsreader) with a fiery, mischievousness charm and a contemporary air that makes the role distinct from Davis’ career-launching performance.
Despite, or because of, her rough edges, many men are drawn to Sybylla. There’s English jackeroo Frank – receiving a makeover from Armstrong’s bumbling version into a suave, impossibly handsome suitor played by Jake Dunn – and wealthy neighbour Harry (Christopher Chung, Slow Horses). The latter is less of an arrogant player as with Neill’s portrayal, and more of a sensitive soul who must approach high society tactfully as a Chinese-Australian.
Harry’s eccentric, suffragist aunt Augusta (a scene-stealing Kate Mulvany) becomes a mentor of sorts, encouraging Sybylla to write her way into a better life. Sybylla’s other main inspiration is Nell (Sherry Lee-Watson, Heartbreak High), a strong-willed Indigenous farm-hand with dreams of a bigger life.
With its anachronistic needle drops and narration from Sybylla’s diary/stories, My Brilliant Career is reminiscent of Dickinson, the underseen Apple TV series that took big swings to capture Emily Dickinson’s isolating life and rich inner world.
Much like Dickinson, Netflix’s take on Franklin’s novel can sometimes labour its politics (should every main character have the same views as a progressive from 2026?). It also loses some of the grime of its time-period for a glossier feel. But at its core, this adaptation carries Sybylla Melvyn’s spirit into 2026, with all the messy charm of its protagonist.
My Brilliant Career is on Netflix from August 13.
