Celia

Celia is devastated by her grandmother's death in Box Hill, 1957. After the funeral she envisions a monstrous blue Hobyah hand reaching into her bedroom window. Pat comforts Celia and they move to the backyard, where the screeching she heard is revealed to be a possum.

The following day Celia meets her new next-door neighbors, the Tanner family—Alice, Evan and their children Meryl, Karl, and Steve. The children quickly form a connection, even as adults around them sense political tension. The Tanners introduce a new, uneasy dynamic to Celia's world.

On Celia's birthday she is disappointed to receive a bicycle rather than a pet rabbit. Her father Ray insists rabbits are vermin, fueling a personal clash over motherhood and guardianship. To appease her, Ray eventually gives Celia a rabbit named Murgatroyd.

At mass, a priest derides the Australian Peace Council as a communist front, stoking fear of political enemies. The sermon adds pressure to the town's already tense climate and foreshadows the growing strain between families. Celia's sense of safety becomes more fragile in this atmosphere.

Celia is bullied at school by her cousin Stephanie, which amplifies her fear and sadness. She clings to comforting visions of her grandmother as a shield against the daily cruelty. Those visions help her endure the hostile environment around her.

In the rock quarry, Stephanie and her brothers steal a wooden mask belonging to Celia's grandmother and chase Celia. The pursuit intensifies the feud and makes the quarry feel like a dangerous arena. The stolen relic heightens the sense that the past is intruding into the present.

Ray discovers the Tanners are members of the Communist Party and forbids Celia from visiting their home, deepening the family rift. To placate her, he buys Celia a pet rabbit named Murgatroyd. The rabbit becomes a constant, emotional touchstone amid escalating tensions.

Celia is grounded for a week after being seen speaking to the Tanner children again, and Ray informs his brother Burke—the local sergeant—about the Tanners' beliefs. Burke's impending involvement suggests official scrutiny on the family feud. Celia's sense of safety begins to erode as authority looms.

Celia experiences a disturbing nightmare in which her grandmother scratches at her window, followed by the looming Hobyah. The dream blends memory with fear and signals darker events to come. She wakes unsettled, more wary of the world around her.

The kids sneak to the quarry and craft effigies of Burke, Stephanie, and Ray. They light a fire, stab the effigies with needles, and burn the Ray effigy, venting their anger in a ritual. When Burke discovers the Ray effigy and Celia's actions, he disciplines her, fear and confusion deepen.

After Evan loses his job as a consequence of Ray's disclosure, Celia and the Tanner children burn Ray's effigy, wishing him harm. Stephanie and her friends ambush the kids, lock them in a shack, and injure Murgatroyd with a fire poker. The feud spills into public life, culminating in a tense confrontation.

The Tanner family relocates to Sydney for Evan to find work, and Burke arrives at the Carmichael home to confiscate Murgatroyd since rabbits are now deemed invasive. Murgatroyd is taken to the local zoo after several unsuccessful attempts to keep it as a pet. The loss marks a turning point in Celia's struggle against adult authority.

Celia begins to hallucinate Burke as a Hobyah figure and, believing him a threat, shoots him with her father's shotgun, killing him. In a panic, the girls stage a robbery-murder scene, throwing Pat's jewelry into a stream and disguising the crime to mislead the police. Celia's mother grows suspicious as Burke's body remains undiscovered and evidence piles up.

Back at the quarry, Celia acts as judge in a mock execution for Heather's supposed crime, which turns out to be a prank. Heather is hanged briefly and then revived, revealing the cruelty of their game. The mock execution underscores how violence has contaminated Celia's world and their friendships.