Synopsis
Moana and Pearl, two singers who perform as the Dance Sisters, are performing in the street in front of the Sydney Opera House. Suddenly there is a roar of anger from the crowd as police baton charge down the steps of the Opera House. The police are pelted with cans of beer and other missiles, while helicopters buzz overhead.
The Dance Sisters pack their gear and run, as tanks roll through Circular Quay. They become separated in the panicking crowd, and Moana struggles in increasing desperation through Hyde Park, past screaming people, and up to Kings Cross, past crumbling buildings, before collapsing in a doorway.
She awakes in a booth at the cult with which Pearl has recently become involved, and there she discovers Matt, a young cult member, who reassures her that the civil war was just a virtual-dream. Matt has the slightly saggy hair and unkempt appearance of many technicians, but with the chest and bearing of a male model.
They join the rest of the cult members at breakfast, where she witnesses the cult leader publicly humiliating Pearl about her virtual sexual experiences, before the duo are called away by a message from their manager, Angel.
Moana confides her misgivings about the dangers of the cult and the virtual dreaming to Pearl as they walk over to Angel’s office, however Pearl defends the system.
The Dance Sisters hold a press conference in which the recent break-up of Pearl and Moana's sexual relationship is exposed, and Pearl's involvement with the cult is questioned. Eva defends Pearl and steers the media back to the central issue of the music. They meet with Angel, and sign contracts for the Australasian Song Awards.
Worried about Pearl, Moana teases Matt into revealing past problems between the cult and the police, and she also discovers that the cult has open sexual relationships which preclude relationships with outsiders.
Pearl begins missing sound checks, as the cult tries to undermine her work with the duo. Unsure where to turn or who to believe, Moana is the one who must bring it back together, if they are to have their chance at the awards.
Pearl moves into the cult and is initiated, a ceremony in which Moana is asked to participate as a witness to the initiation document. She steals a copy of this agreement, on which Angel then takes legal advice and they decide to use the document to pressure the cult to release Pearl to fulfil her obligations.
Moana and Matt grow closer, as he begins to accompany Pearl to gigs as her minder. He tries to entice Moana into the cult, and she in turn tries to entice him out. Until one of these things happens, cult rules preclude a sexual relationship, and this only makes the promise of a relationship more enticing.
Then Moana's world collapses as Pearl, under more and more stress from her conflicting commitments, throws in her work with the duo. Eva considers giving up on the awards, or joining the cult herself, but then determines to rescue Pearl.
She convinces Angel to use the initiation agreement against the cult, and file an entrapment suit with the court, to pressure Pearl's return to the duo.
Moana meets Matt in a bar and passes on this information, and through the subsequent negotiations, they grow closer, and then participate in a virtual swap, where they make virtual love with one another.
Determined to take her mission to the top, Eva does a one on one session with the leader where the leader tries to manipulate her into joining the group. She succeeds in undermining Moana’s faith in the Awards, and she wanders arround Sydney, lost, for the rest of the day.
That evening she misses a promotional obligation, as she participates in a session at the cult in which Pearl does a primal, naked performance art piece with body paint and other material.
Matt walks her home, and in a turn, reveals his own insecurities with the cult, and warns her not to get too involved. Next day the entrapment suit becomes public, adding more pressure on the cult, and Moana negotiates with Matt and Pearl to secure her participation in the Song Awards.
Matt takes some investment documents from the cult, which reveal how much money the leader is skimming without paying tax. He tells Moana that this document an 'insurance policy', and get her to hide it under the bed. Then he reveals to Moana that he has decided to move out of the cult, and that impediment removed, they consummate their relationship.
Matt convinces Moana to take a virtual dream together so he can show her what’s really going on and explain why he is moving out, and they sneak back into the group, only to be stopped after a short time by the Leader and some armed guards. Moana is allowed to go but Matt is taken away, after reminding her of the 'insurance policy'.
Moana jumps in a taxi home to get the investment file and then races over to Angel's place, where they hatch a plan to secure Pearl's participation in the Awards and Matt's escape at the Awards ceremony by threatening to release this new information.
This plan is successful, and finally the big day arrives, and Pearl and Moana rehearse, and then perform and win the Awards.
Matt, who under the deal has been allowed to sit at the front and watch the show, then escapes from the cult’s guards who are sitting on either side, and the trio reunites in the dressing room. Pearl learns that Matt is moving out, which opens the possibility that she also will.
On this site you can check out the audition and crew call opportunities, read recent news, or check out our new feature film, Dance Sisters, or read reviews of the novel on which the film is based.
You can also check out Artmedia's digital short film, Moontan (pictured) which was released in 2007 - read the synopsis, check out reviews of the book on which the film is based, read scene one of the script, and find information on the cast and production team.
