When the small town of Minyaka suffers from a drought, a kind and mysterious stranger offers to make it rain by playing his flute; under the condition that he be paid. But after Fluteman makes it rain, and even stops it; the town council, blind by their greed and pride, refuse to pay him. Fluteman stands before the town and warns them of a curse he would bring; and so the next day the school playground fades into silence as all the children disappear into the bush... except one.
Acting
John Jarratt commits completely to flute-based menace.
Production
Bizarre rural Australian locations feel genuinely cursed.
Director
Peter Maxwell
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
John Jarratt later became famous as the terrifying Mick Taylor in Wolf Creek—this is his gentle flute era.
The film adapts the Pied Piper legend to 1980s Australian anxieties about drought, small-town politics, and trusting strangers in the outback.
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