Set in the Northern Territory, Jedda tells the story of an Indigenous baby adopted by a white woman. She grows up with an expectation that she'll marry a mixed-race stockman, only to be abducted by the bad, mad and 'primitive' Marbuk who lures her to her death. Many layers lie beneath the film's story making it not only a seminal piece but also a classic. Jane Mills unpeels these many layers and in so doing finds Jedda intriguing because its meaning is not fixed and because of the many mysteries embedded in its story, soundtrack and images.