Picnic at Hanging Rock Ending Explained-Every Theory Explored

Classic horror has always been a specific interest of mine. The original monsters of Stoker and Shelley, the paranoid chillers of Edgar Allen Poe, and the psychological puzzles of Shirley Jackson and Henry James have a special place in my heart. The gaslight films of the ’40s and the twisted confounders like Whatever Happened To Baby Jane and the entire library of Alfred Hitchcock laid the groundwork for modern horror. One of those lesser-known voices is Joan Lindsay, who wrote the novel Picnic at Hanging Rock, from which the Australian original movie and Amazon’s miniseries were based. It’s a beautiful and tragic story of lost opportunities, pain, and madness punctuated by a dreamy narrative style.

The series stars Game of Throne’s Natalie Dormer, and Samara Weaving(Bill and Ted Face The Music and Ready or Not) is a character study in grief and abuse. Dormer’s Hester Appleyard is a wealthy widow who purchased a large mansion in Australia and runs a finishing school for girls. On Valentine’s Day 1900, the girls are taken to Hanging Rock for a picnic, and several of the girls and one governess never return. Their bodies are never found.

Did someone do something terrible to the girls? Did they jump, and animals do the rest? Everything is told through the lens of Hester, who we quickly learn is an unreliable witness. In much the same way as The Yellow Wallpaper portrays the claustrophobic existence of pre-modern women who were expected to be perfect ladies without any agency of their own, Hester Appleyard has a tragic past that could be tainting everything we see in the story.

The ending of Picnic At Hanging Rock has long been debated, with everything from rape and murder, to time warps, and aliens being posited. There is no shortage of theories, and Amazon’s miniseries, although excellent, does not make the picture any clearer. The series and the film maddeningly end with Hester going to Hanging Rock to find the girls and jumping from the cliff. Nevertheless, it is an enduring classic with a timeless ending. Here is everything you need to know about the ending and every possible theory.

Is it a true story?

When the novel was written in 1967 and first adapted by Peter Weir in 1975, there were rumors that this was a true story. Lindsay herself perpetuated this with an author’s note and brief personal biography about her time in an Australian boarding school similar to the one in Picnic At Hanging Rock. Although Lindsay does not admit to anything like the girls’ disappearances in the novel, several odd idiosyncrasies have intrigued readers since it was written. For example, she wouldn’t wear a watch because she said they always stopped on her wrist.

She also repeatedly shut down anyone who asked about the specifics of her “based on” claims. No written records of any disappearances similar to the ones in the novel were ever found, but the questions remain. The geological structure called Mount Diogenes, Dryden’s Rock, and Ngannelong in Victoria, Australia, is real. To this day, visitors to the formation report strange or ominous feelings in alarming numbers, and a park ranger’s dog became terrified of the area and refused to go closer.

The aliens theory

Many theories are rooted more concretely, while others are entirely fantastical. One of the wildest is the alien abduction theory. Another possibility perpetrated by Lindsay herself, who said it could have been aliens, is encouraged by the descriptors in the novel and the miniseries. Gold dust swirls around the girls, seemingly intoxicating them either into sleep or curiosity. The clouds shimmer and shift as if hiding a portal.

The ground shakes, strange winds blow, and moans fill the air. Edith, the only girl initially to return from the Rock, reports seeing a red cloud above. Irma, who was later discovered without a scratch on her and not suffering from dehydration, had to have been somewhere. Those things could be artifacts left by an alien ship there to scoop up the girls. Some alien abductees also claim watches stop working around them, just like Lindsay and the girls in the story.

Rape and murder

The most straightforward of the possibilities is any one of the many men near the girls could be responsible for their disappearances. This one is a tougher sell as one of the four girls, Irma, returns inexplicably after nine days with no memory of what happened to her or the others. She is unscathed physically, making everyone assume she must have been kept inside. If all of the girls were drugged they could have been raped and killed. If the captor fell in love with Irma or she escaped, it could account for the time lost and physical appearance. Edith was never taken because she was younger than the others and the men could have drugged he, accounting for her memory loss.

Many men around the girls, including Michael Fitzhubert(Harrison Gilbertson) and his friend Albert, had the opportunity and were in the vicinity. Additionally, Michael had to leave his college after being accused of something. He claims it was a false accusation but coupled with the wealth his parents had; he is a viable candidate. Michael also had a stocking from one of the girls he kept overnight. He claimed he found it during the search but the creepy way he caresses the stocking is alarming.

Michael appears to be an indulged man who flits from girl to girl without committing to any of them. After Irma returns, he woos her before traveling to Queensland leaving only a Dear John letter. The odd last dinner between Irma and the Fitzhuberts hints at the monster that hides behind their wealth and power. Michael’s father inhales his food, chewing extremely loudly while his wife chatters on incessantly about a possible engagement that will never happen. These are people clearly out of touch with their son.

Considering that Albert and Michael discuss traveling together in a scene layered with sexual tension it is more likely, Michael has not married because he is gay. This would make it unlikely he raped the girls, but he could have still killed them. The scene with the stocking could be the simple curiosity of a repressed queer man. Irma was looking for a wealthy man to marry and Michael fits that description. She either didn’t realize Michael was not interested or was willing to make allowances. If Albert and Michael drugged her, it could explain why she was willing to consider him an appropriate suitor.

The stable boy who attacked Miranda at the beginning and later scared Sara had a motive. He hated Hester and, by proxy, the students. He also showed he was more than capable of sexual violence when he tried to rape Miranda in the barn. If he had followed the carriage from a distance, he could have taken the girls and hurt them while everyone was sleeping. However, he hardly seems smart enough to commit a crime of that complexity.

A last possibility is Reg Lumley, a vicious man who delighted in hurting his sister, relentlessly judging everyone, and forcing his sister into an incestuous affair. He was at Hanging Rock when the girls went missing, and he was a vile piece of work capable of almost anything.

The curse of Hanging Rock

The politics of the sacred spot can not be overlooked. This rock monolith is a real place in Victoria, Australia, and is important for Aboriginal meetings and ceremonies. When the country was colonized, the land was taken in much the same way as Native Americans were pushed off of their land. The lush area the girls picnic at looks like a Garden of Eden full of unbridled nature. Miranda even sticks her tongue out at her teacher before they head off to explore. The event directly follows one of the teachers finding a snake, giving the next scene context. Was Miranda possessed by the evil spirit of something trying to lure the girls into a trap?

Everyone whispers about the dangers of being near the Rock after dark. Ghosts and demons are still rumored to haunt the area. Could something paranormal have happened to the girls? There is a moment when it appears Miranda sees herself and the others climb up to the top before they do it. Is she seeing a ghost of what is to come, or does time work differently there? Author Joan Lindsay claimed to have the same sorts of “time slips” and experiences.

A time warp or alternate universe

Another more outlandish theory is that the girls went through a crack in the rocks and into an alternate dimension. Time does not seem to work the same way near the rock that it does anywhere else. Watches stop working, and it is almost as if time is merging with itself. A strange yellow glowing mist hangs over the girls before everyone falls asleep in the forest near the Rock. Even though the watches stop, time does not. It just moves differently.

Is it as simple as weird magnetic energy, or is there a portal to another dimension? Lindsay’s original ending of the novel that went unpublished until after her death is precisely that. All of the girls go up to the rock and see Miss McCraw. They fling their clothes in the air where they float. Then, realizing time and space don’t work the same, they follow her into a crack in the rock and are never seen again.

Did the girls run away or commit suicide in Picnic At Hanging Rock?

If taken literally, everything happens exactly as it appears, meaning the girls attend the school where Hester abuses them. With the help of Dora Lumley, she rules the girls with an iron fist. They frequently dole out cruel punishment, including caning and neglect. The girls are all mentally abused as well. In several flashbacks, we see the abuse and their unhappiness. We know Miranda was deeply unhappy and wanted a way out of her expected life and more immediately away from Mrs. Appleyard.

Marion was also miserable. After graduation, she was offered employment at the school but was not enthusiastic about it. Although she loved learning and Miss McCraw, she did not agree with the teaching methods and did not want to hide. Of the three older girls, only Irma is tethered to societal norms. That is why she returns when the others do not. She may have initially thought she would leave with them but changed her mind, but kept their secret. If this is the case, Hester committed suicide because she felt guilt over killing Sara and her cruelty to the other girls. She knows it is only a matter of time before everything catches up to her and she jumps rather than pay for her crimes.

What happened to Sara?

Although we never see exactly what happens to Sara, it is implied that Hester killed her in a fit of anger. She hated the headstrong girl’s attitude, and Sara’s refusal to be scared by Hester infuriated her. Sara is the childhood dream Hester wanted. She was also a symbol of all the failures and mistakes Hester had made. She acted as Sara’s conscience forcing her to remember the missing girls when Hester wanted everyone to forget they ever existed. If Sara is a real girl, she was killed late at night and disposed of before anyone noticed. Hester then concocted a lie. Mr. Cosgrove took her. Her suitcase was found by Dianne as well as the picture of Miranda. Dianne knew she would never leave it. Ultimately Sara’s body is located in the garden in a bed of Hydrangeas.

Is it all in Hester’s mind?

Easily my favorite of all the readings is this one. Hester is a deeply troubled young woman with a tragic past. After purchasing the large house, she begins drinking heavily and imagines everything that we see in the series. Unreliable narrators and horror go hand in hand. It is possible that Hester Appleyard had other finishing schools that all ended badly before the one we see in Picnic at Hanging Rock. We know she has an interest in reinventing herself. Her conversation with the doctor who offers her a new name is symbolic of the many identities, including Appleyard she may have had over the years.

The man who took her from the orphanage and forced her into prostitution came to her in a vision and said, “It’s not a lie if you believe it.” She admits as much to Dianne when she says she is starting fresh again. A “clean sweep she calls it after firing or letting everyone leave. Likely this isn’t the first group of girls she has abused. It’s distinctly possible all of those failures led to her suicide. Try as she might, Hester was too traumatized by her past, and with no medical help, she was doomed to repeat that violence as an adult.

In Episode 1 Mrs. Appleyard sits pensively with her hands cradling her temples lending credence to the theory it’s all in her head theory. Shortly before it cuts back to the girls, we see her reflection. The girls are simply a reflection of all of the parts of her. There are many instances when her behavior mirrors the girls.

Each of the girls represents an aspect of Hester that she represses. Irma is the judgemental side that wishes she was high born but knew she was less than. Irma knew everything Mrs. Appleyard taught was wrong. Irma represented society’s disdain and Hester’s self-loathing. Edith is the desperate child who wishes she had someone to love her. This is Hester’s vulnerable side. Finally, Miranda is her desire to be her own person and live a life free of expectations. She is the freedom, Hester never had.

Hester was taken from an orphanage as a young girl, and Sara reminds her of herself. Through flashbacks in Picnic At Hanging Rock, we see she was also a rebellious child. She was the curious, headstrong girl Hester may have been before the violence in her past. She is also her conscience haunting her. Even the teachers are parts of her psyche. The Lumleys are ghosts of the terrible things Hester endured as a child. Nora is the cruel, beaten dog who bites out of fear.

Marion is the intelligent part of her that wishes she had a chance at an education and respectability. Unfortunately, she is also in love with Miss McCraw in a time when that wasn’t acceptable. Marion is reading Turn of the Screw, another clue that this is in Hester’s head. The governess in that story is the ultimate unreliable narrator just as Hester is.

After Miranda’s caning is another dream-like sequence where the girls morph in and out of each other as if they are parts of a whole. A dream of Hester’s reveals what she hates the most about herself. She believes she is impure because of what happened to her as a child. She would love to wash that part of her life away, but her sins are visible when stripped naked.

Miss McCraw tells Marion, “Everything ends unless you stay in the in-between. It’s easier there.” Hester commits suicide because she can no longer stay in the in-between and is forced to face the abuse and tragedy of her life. When she finds out the man that took her from the orphanage and made her do terrible things is dead, she is forced to realize she did all those things to the girls. It was easier for her to lie to herself about what she had become than face the truth.

It would be fair to consider Picnic at Hanging Rock a feminine The Shining. They both feature mentally unstable people who isolate themselves from the world. This reading only works if you believe there was never anyone but Hester Appleyard in the house. Picnic at Hanging Rock has remained an enigmatic emblem of feminine rage. Did any of this happen? Did all of it? Was it just a memory of events that couldn’t be changed or something entirely supernatural? We will never know, but it is perfect in its ambiguity as a brilliant piece of psychological horror.

“You and I are she,” The nursery rhyme sung by Hester and Sara earlier and then echoed by Hester before she jumps is everything you need to know. Hester can’t ever outrun her past. The miniseries is available on Amazon Prime right now.