Till Human Voices Wake Us

Fifteen-year-old Sam Franks returns to his Victoria hometown from a Melbourne boarding school. He carries a quiet ache and a tender, unspoken affection for Silvy, a local girl who uses a leg brace. Silvy's warmth and their shared acts of kindness establish a sanctuary where poetry and patience feel like magic.

They become inseparable friends, each finding in the other a world where poetry, patience, and small acts of kindness feel like magic. Sam's quiet presence helps Silvy navigate her disability with warmth and dignity, while Silvy's warmth gives Sam a sense of belonging. Their bond hints at something deeper than friendship.

One night, a spontaneous ride ends at a river where Sam dives in and gently removes Silvy’s leg braces. In the moonlit current, they 'dance' together as the water glints around them and a kiss seals a fleeting moment of perfect connection. Sam makes a wish as Silvy gazes at the stars, then everything changes.

A terrifying sight follows as Silvy vanishes at the river’s edge. Sam struggles against the river’s pull and returns home haunted by fear and unresolved questions. A frantic search erupts, revealing an ache that will shape the years to come.

Silvy's body is not found until much later, resting in an underwater cave. The tragedy becomes an unspoken hole in Sam’s life, shaping the years ahead. The memory of their kiss lingers, even as the river’s dark pull remains.

Two decades slip by. Sam has become a psychology teacher at a Melbourne institute, living with the weight of absence and loss. The quiet routine of his life is interrupted by the memory of Silvy.

Now thirty-five, Sam returns to his hometown to bury a father who has long haunted him. The funeral forces him to confront unresolved loneliness and the consequences of a life shaped by absence. On the train, a chance encounter with Ruby sets a new, unsettling course.

On the train, Sam meets Ruby, a polite woman who feels familiar in ways that echo Silvy. He steps away to tend to his father's casket and returns to find Ruby vanished, as if she were never there. The enigmatic disappearance plants a cautious belief that she might echo Silvy.

That night, a torrential downpour floods the city, and Sam rescues a woman from the river. He discovers that the woman is Ruby, an amnesiac who cannot remember her own name and carries a haunting echo of Silvy. The rescue deepens the mystery and hints at a possible return of Silvy in a new form.

Sam hypnotizes Ruby, and beneath trance she speaks of being pulled down and sinking into cold depths. A moment of panic softens into warmth and comfort, echoing the sensation Sam once shared with Silvy. He clings to the possibility that Ruby is a vessel for Silvy’s return.

The next day, Ruby asks to be taken to her 'real home.' Sam carries her as her legs fail again, and they find safety in an old bed within her abandoned childhood house. He reads her the closing lines of The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock, marking a quiet, ceremonial moment.

As Prufrock settles, Ruby’s life ebbs away with a final serene smile. Sam places her in a boat and pushes it out onto the river, swimming beside the drifting craft as the current carries it away. When he looks into the boat, only his coat remains, and he sinks back into the water, the river carrying away the lingering mystery of Silvy and the ache of love.