On 16 October 1970, rigger Antonello becomes a “lucky” survivor of the West Gate Bridge collapse, but the nightmares and ghosts plague him. In 2009, Jo is weeks away from finishing year 12 and starting to feel her best friend, Ash, slip away. When Jo causes an accident driving drunk under the West Gate Bridge, Ash is killed instantly. Jo survives. When Antonello answers a dreaded early morning call from his son, Alex, we learn that Ash is Antonello’s granddaughter. While everyone left behind struggles to reconcile the complex moral culpability of the tragedy, Jo’s court-appointed lawyer, Sarah, takes on the case, bringing her own history with the bridge into the forefront. Seeing his own destructive grief within his son, Antonello sets about helping his family find a way forward while healing his own trauma from the bridge collapse. Jo and her single mother, Mandy, must wade through the aftermath of the accident and Jo’s inevitable prison sentence, while navigating their changed relationship. Mandy eventually sells their rundown weatherboard home and leaves Ash’s family to heal in peace. In prison, Jo is offered hope and forgiveness when pages are sent to her from Ash’s journal.

Inspired by the true events of the 1970 disaster, West Gate explores themes of regret, redemption and resilience as our protagonists come to terms with their mistakes.

Based on the book “The Bridge” by Enza Gandolfo.