A warmly-received family drama starring Annette Bening and Julianne Moore as a lesbian couple raising kids opens in cinemas across Australia today.

In The Kids Are All Right, a fraught situation arises when the couple’s teenage children track down their sperm donor dad.

The critics loved it – the movie scored an impressive 95% appreciation score on review aggregator site Rotten Tomatoes.com.

The hosts of the ABC’s At The Movies programme also enjoyed the film, both giving it four stars, and predicting Oscar nomination nods for Bening.

“Annette Bening is sublime as Nic, she is just so good, and while she towers over the rest of the cast, they too are wonderful,” said Margaret Pomeranz.

Co-host David Stratton agreed, adding: “It’s interesting that almost nothing is made of the fact that they’re a lesbian couple… it’s not stressed or overemphasized. It’s just there. It’s accepted.”

Moore told journalists upon the film’s release in America that kissing a woman for intimate scenes was no different to kissing men in her previous sexy film roles.

“I’ve done love scenes with men and women and the only thing that matters is that you have a partner you can trust, and you know what the tone is and that you do it together. And if you’re ever in a situation – and I haven’t been – where it’s not comfortable, then that’s difficult,” she explained.

The trailer for The Kids Are Alright appears below.