The Last Anniversary is a delicious mystery mixed with a love story and guaranteed to be your new favourite show.

The Last Anniversary is a sublime new piece of Australian television, but the opening scenes themselves could stand alone as a perfectly crafted short film.

Early on in this first episode of this new Binge series, which is based on the best-selling Liane Moriarty book of the same name, the audience is introduced to freelance journalist Sophie Honeywell (played to perfection by Teresa Palmer), who is about to embark on a first date so demoralising that it is destined to live on in group chat lore for many years to come.

After sitting through a first drink with a man who questions everything from her age to how fast she wants to have children, Sophie almost bails on the disastrous date. Only to look at herself in the mirror while hiding in the restaurant's bathroom, contemplating fleeing the scene, and reminding herself that she is 39 years old and needs to give him a chance.

So she returns to her date, only to be rejected by him and forced to pay for her own Arancini Balls as he heads off on his second date of the evening.

This sequence is only a tiny slice of the premiere episode, yet it beautifully sets up the character of Sophie and the crossroads she finds herself stuck at. A woman who longs for children and is a hopeless romantic, always checking her watch the moment she meets a new person in case she needs to remember the exact time she met the love of her life, but faced with a endless string of disappointments that make her dreams feel too far away.

Which makes it all the more realistic when one of her hapless ex-boyfriends Thomas (Charlie Garber), contacts her and lets her know that his grandmother Connie (Angela Punch McGregor) has passed away and left Sophie her house, she packs a suitcase and moves to a tiny island off the New South Wales's coast called Scribbly Gum.

The strongest element of The Last Anniversary is the perfectly cast ensemble of characters, each one played with an impressive level of depth, humour and mystery. The actors who bring to life Connie's sprawling family who inhabit Scribbly Gum Island are fascinating to watch on screen. Portraying a family who are less than thrilled about Sophie taking up space in their world.

In the series, the island itself is also bathed in a decades-old mystery and one that ties directly into the lives of Connie's family.

Take a look at the trailer for The Last Anniversary on Binge.

The history of Scribbly Gum island includes a story about a couple who disappeared years ago, leaving behind a baby who was raised by Connie and her sister Rose (Miranda Richardson).

In present day, the baby has grown into a woman named Enigma (Helen Thomson), who uses her story to attract tourists to the island, leaning into the true crime element of her life with dramatic flair. Behind the scenes, Enigma has a complicated history with her daughter Grace who goes through a traumatic birth while welcoming her first child with her husband Callum (Uli Latukefu).

Also dwelling on the island is Connie's daughter Margie (Susan Prior), her husband Ron (Jeremy Lindsay Taylor) and their adult daughter Veronika (Danielle Macdonald) who in particular is incredibly hostile to Sophie when she arrives on the island to claim her surprise inheritance.

The Last Anniversary brilliantly weaves together the stories of this vast cast of characters, exploring everything from the complicated dynamics of family, to love, motherhood, heartbreak and what happens when you hold onto a secret for too long.

If you have read the book, then you'll still be drawn into this beautifully crafted adaption of adaptation of Moriarty's work, set against the atmospheric backdrop of the island.

If the story is new to you, then you'll be captivated by the unfolding mystery that has become wrapped around this chaotic family and also the fate of Sophie as she slowly becomes a part of this strange little world.

The Last Anniversary is a series brimming with heart and humour, creating a world that you can't help but be swept up in.

The Last Anniverary is available to stream on BINGE from Thursday 27 March.

Laura Brodnik is Mamamia's Head of Entertainment and host of The Spill podcast. You can follow her on Instagram here for more entertainment news and recommendations.

Feature Image: Binge.