Brenda, played by Indigenous Australian actress Deborah Mailman, has always felt like she didn't quite fit in anywhere. Growing up in a white foster family, she was loved and cared for, but always felt a sense of longing to connect with her Aboriginal roots. When she was suddenly taken away from her foster family and returned to her birth family, she struggled to adapt to their ways of life and felt like an outsider.
Fast forward to the present day, and Brenda is now in her forties, working as a social worker in a remote Aboriginal community. After stumbling across old photographs of her foster family, she becomes consumed by a desire to reconnect with them and find out what happened to the people who were once so important to her.
With the help of her cousin, a fellow social worker, Brenda sets out on a journey to reconnect with her past. Along the way, she uncovers long-buried secrets about her family's history, including the tragic fate of her foster parents. She also discovers that the government lied about her adoption, and that her birth family has a complicated relationship with the white Australian community.
As Brenda delves deeper into her past, she begins to uncover clues that suggest her Aboriginal and white identities might not be as separate as she once thought. The Last Daughter explores themes of identity, family, and the lasting impact of government policies that sought to break up Indigenous families in Australia.
