In a Sydney suburb, two nurses, Maria and Flora, a housekeeper, Lotte, and a solicitor, Arnold, attend to Elizabeth Hunter as her expatriate son Sir Basil, a famous but struggling actor in London, and daughter Dorothy, a divorced and down at heel princess, convene at her deathbed. They come to make sure they can leave Australia with their hefty inheritance.

Geoffrey Rush
as Basil Hunter

Judy Davis
as Dorothy de Lascabanes

Charlotte Rampling
as Elizabeth Hunter

Alexandra Schepisi
as Flora Manhood

Helen Morse
as Lotte

John Gaden
as Arnold Wyburd

Robyn Nevin
as Lal Wyburd

Colin Friels
as Athol Shreve

Maria Theodorakis
as Mary

Dustin Clare
as Col