It is the Indian summer of 1959. America is on the verge of change – it is the end of an era, the eve of the 60s and fate has brought Maddy Hawkins, a teenage runaway from the swamps of Florida to an east coast resort, which is closing for the winter.

Maddy has always dreamed of one thing: a family that she can call her own. At the all female rooming house owned by Lulu, an eccentric silent movie star, Maddy begins to realise her dream, creating her own family with Claire, a widowed French war bride, and Mary, a young artist.

Maddy seems to have found some stability at last, both at Lulu’s and at her job as a mechanic at the local garage.

But changes in all their lives threaten to destroy Maddy’s newfound happiness. Mary is moving to Colorado to get married, Maddy is beginning to discover and explore her own teenage sexuality and Claire, who is pregnant by Rick, a man she does not love, is considering marrying him and having the baby. Knowing that the marriage would be a terrible mistake, Maddy tries to convince Claire that she can defy society and have the baby on her own.

Maddy hatches several impetuous schemes to get Claire to change her mind, teaming up with Will, a young handsome fairground worker, and enlisting the help of Lulu and some other local female friends. Together they convince Claire that it is her life and she must live it the way she wants to, not the way society dictates. Claire comes to realise that the bond of a ‘family’ of one’s own choosing can be much stronger than the bond of a ‘nuclear family’.

Wrestling with Alligators is the story of three generations of women struggling to shape their own destinies, challenging tradition, facing the world on the eve of change.

Running time
82 minutes

Starring
Joely Richardson
Claire Bloom
Aleksa Palladino

A Homegrown Pictures and Portman production.