New Zealand is home to some of the most beautiful landscapes ever found in the world, as anyLord of the Ringsfan will tell you, and has created quirky and hilarious comedies like HBO’sFlight of the Conchordswhich helped to define the country as a unique powerhouse of storytelling, humor, and pop culture. New Zealand nativeTaika Waititi, who worked as a writer onFlight of the Conchords,has also helped spread Kiwi creativity to more global audiences through the mainstream and international success ofThor: RagnarokandReservation Dogs.
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The 2010s had a plethora of incredible films from all around the world, with New Zealand as no exception. Here are six films from New Zealand from the past decade that you should check out (if you haven’t already).
‘The Breaker Upperers’ (2018)
Dark-humored, quirky, and authentically New Zealand,The Breaker UpperersstarsMadeline SamiandJackie van Beekas best-friend duo Mel and Jen who run an ethically ambiguous, but very lucrative, business of breaking couples apart. The two met after they were cheated on by the same man, which is portrayed in the film via a dreamy karaoke rendition of the always iconicCeline Dion,and soon began a life-changing friendship with each other.
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Madeline and Jackie have incredible chemistry together, and the bond between Mel and Jen is the driving force and heart of the film. Even as they deliver various methods of a relationship death blow ranging from silly to incredibly traumatic, you find yourself rooting for these love executioners because they really are just so charming and likable.The Breaker Uppereresis a perfect representation of Kiwi humor, and is a must-watch for your next movie night.
‘Hunt for the Wilderpeople’ (2016)
Directed, written, and starring in a minor role,Taika Waititi’s2016 comedy-adventureHunt for the WilderpeoplestarsSam NeillandJulian Dennisonas a father-figure and foster-son duo as they attempt to survive in the New Zealand bush and escape from police pursuing them. The film is poignant and emotional without taking itself too seriously, and will quickly dive back into its classic, offbeat humor to throw you off your tracks and to instead embrace the unexpected and chaotic journey the two characters have to adapt to.
A coming-of-age comedy tale that is incredibly clever, absurd, and moving, with Sam and Julian playing off each other excellently. Like most of his films, Taika Waititi holds real affection and love for his ‘bad egg’ characters and shows the real compassion and similarities between two people who seem to have nothing in common.Hunt for the Wilderpeopledeserves all the hype it gets and is a perfectly weird film to check out if you want to laugh immediately after crying.
Fantail (2013)
Fantailis a quiet but powerful film about identity, responsibility, and the great ramifications of being a hero. StarringSophie Henderson,who also wrote the film’s story, as a young pākehā woman called Tania living in an industrial suburb in Auckland who works the graveyard shift at a gas station to help support her mother and younger brother. The film focuses its attention on Tania and her relationships, especially with her younger brother, with every conversation with each character helping to slowly reveal more about herself, as well as the specific race and class politics found in a modern-day, bicultural, and post-colonial New Zealand.
The film’s pace all leads up to the dramatic climatic finale, with Henderson acting as the film’s main anchor and delivering an incredible and harrowing performance, while still having all the introverted and breezy humor that Kiwi cinema is known for. While only 81 minutes,Fantailis still an incredibly detailed story that shows all the talent coming from small New Zealand cinema.
‘What We Do in the Shadows’ (2014)
Another well-lovedTaika Waititiflick,What We Do in the Shadowsis a delightful mockumentary that follows a group of flat-sharing vampires living in Wellington. The film is hilarious and charming, helping to re-define the vampire genre by exploring tropes and adding a more comedic light to the horror character archetype, with an ensemble cast includingWaititias the dandy vampire Viago, as well asJemaine Clement, Jonathan Brugh,andJackie van Beekin equally fabulous roles.
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It is the best film to watch if you need a pick-me-up or are in desperate need of laughs, as it’s impossible to not smileat leastonce during its run. The film was so successful that it even led to the creation of a follow-up television series by FX, following the adventures and antics of New York vampires who still run intothe Wellington gang from time to time.What We Do in the Shadowsis guaranteed to charm the most die-hard vampire fan to the biggest hater.
‘Tickled’ (2016)
The only documentary on this list and arguably the most bizarre, Kiwi journalistDavid Farrierexplores the incredible and niche world of “competitive tickling” inTickled, which starts off as being another story on something silly and weird to soon finding Farrier caught up in something a lot more dark and complex. Starting when Farrier found some videos of young men tickling each other, the story soon takes a life of its own when Farrier’s polite email asking for more information on the ‘sport’ gets an incredibly hostile and homophobic reply, with lawsuits soon becoming a threat.
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The twists and turns found in this documentary will take you on a wild ride, and it’s impossible to even speculate what will happen next after every new revelation propels the story into murkier and more confusing corners.Tickledis a Pandora’s Box of uncovering the lucrative business of tickle videos, and it soon becomes clear that this business is no laughing matter.
‘Housebound’ (2014)
Gerard Johnstone’sdirectorial debut horror-comedy film,Houseboundfollows Kylie(Morgana O’Reilly)as a troubled young woman sentenced to house arrest and has to live with her chatty mother in her childhood home that both soon believe to be haunted. The film maintains an equal balancing act of offbeat, deadpan humor as well as genuinely scary moments, and it doesn’t shy away from relishing in all traditional horror film conventions and suspense.
Houseboundis a film where you don’t know where it will take you next, with either comedy or gore being an equal possibility for every scene, and is a delight to watch and try and figure it all out before the conclusion. It has all the weird characters and nail-biting tension you’d want to find in a comedy-horror mix, with some room for emotional moments that add even more heart to this indie Kiwi flick.
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