Bleeding Heart Flower Shop - SYNOPSIS
The small depressive, lawless town of Surat in rural Queensland abounds with itinerant workers, alcoholics, & opportunists. But there are some who have ambition.
Deemus, (25), Asian Australian and part-owner of the Bleeding Heart Flower Shop, finds love with Mala, (27), a local jockey, who takes no shit from misogynist men. They’re an odd fit for the town and they have to watch their backs.
There’s Deemus’s business partner, Val (42), who’s in an incestuous relationship with her corrupt policeman brother, Slippey (47), a man with ambiguous sexual tendencies. He pressures Val into contracting out a hit on Deemus after he uncovers Slippey’s illegal fauna trade.
There’s Darleen and Harry, a gem dealing couple in their fifties. The bitchy Darleen takes on the hit contract but secretly sub-contracts it out to Newman George (40s), horse trainer, a local councilor, and Mala’s boss. Newman doesn’t want his hands dirty, so he sub-contracts the job to Lenny Beegs (50s).
Deemus carries on with his life not knowing he’s the target of the hit. Harry saves him in the first attempt and Mala saves him in the second.
Meanwhile, Newman George is hired by Val to find her a good racehorse and train it. But back-stabbing is a well-practiced skill in this town and Newman learns the hard way.
As if being the prey of numerous murderers isn’t enough for Deemus, he learns his citizenship status isn’t legal. He’s forced to increase his income quickly to pay for an immigration agent. At first, he reluctantly begins an erotic dance show but soon finds luck in gambling on the horses.
Many of the characters meet their end in a juicy climax but Deemus and Mala escape to the city for a happy future, oblivious to the carnage in Surat.