Whānau Mārama New Zealand International Film Festival (NZIFF) has wrapped for most of the country, and heads into its last days in remaining centres. NZIFF 2025 runs until 7 September in Ahuriri Napier, Ngāmotu New Plymouth, Tauranga-moana Tauranga and Whakaoriori Masterton, while Kirikiriroa Hamilton and Whakatū Nelson close on 10 September.
But some of the best of the fest are already playing in cinemas around the country—or coming to them very soon. Here’s what to factor in, on a big screen near you in September and October.
Now playing
Shayne Carter is an Aotearoa legend. A Māori-Pākehā punk with a unique perspective on the Dunedin Sound, this doco (drawing extensively on Carter’s memoir) charts his life as a perpetual outsider—and life in music through Bored Games, DoubleHappys, Straitjacket Fits, Dimmer and beyond. Great to see on the big screen (and hear those soaring tunes up loud).
“A great companion piece to his written work, there’s pleasure to be had in hearing him reminisce and crack jokes, even if his prose proved more meticulously crafted,” I said after seeing it at NZIFF.
Writer-director-star Eva Victor explores how a woman is challenged by an abuse-of-power sexual assault, one that she manages through hidden coping mechanisms even as she outwardly flourishes in her career.
“Though I found it all a little bit too girl-who’s-going-to-be-ok-meme-esque at times, and not nearly as uproariously funny as some audiences, I appreciated Sorry, Baby’s hopeful and heartfelt approach and refusal to sensationalise its subject matter,” wrote Flicks’ Katie Parker.
As COVID arrives in a small New Mexico town, its residents are glued to their phones and stuck in their own bubbles of belief. It’s against this backdrop that a feud between Joaquin Phoenix’s sheriff and Pedro Pascal’s mayor escalates, and Ari Aster again looks to literalise our fears.
“No viewpoint is spared being depicted as siloed here, and as this thing takes flight, the ways it departs from observable reality somehow capture something that resonates as even more real,” I commented.
David Cronenberg’s latest proved somewhat polarising, a meditation on grief and mortality that challenged audiences perhaps less with its subject matter than its stylistic choices.
“Sexy, sad and so funny, those willing to meet Cronenberg halfway will be rewarded with something special,” wrote Katie Parker, while acknowledging it features “the kind of deliberately stilted performances and vague plot that will inevitably be interpreted by some audiences as ‘bad’.”
Comedic New Zealand feature Workmates brings Aotearoa’s theatre scene to the big screen, centred around two close mates, who’ve been running a thinly-fictionalised version of real-life Auckland theatre space The Basement. Though, as actor-screenwriter Sophie Henderson told Liam Maguren: “It’s damning—damning to me. I have to say: The Basement is legit now. It was quite dodgy when I was running it, but now it’s all above board.”
“Clever, fast, and funny, this is an impressive local release with a lot of heart and soul,” wrote Rachel Ashby, after attending the world premiere at NZIFF.
Coming soon
Well, you can’t see everything at a film festival, and Splitsville eluded our NZIFF coverage—so consider us curious about this open relationship indie comedy (no, not that kind of curious). Among the cast: Dakota Johnson, Adria Arjona, Nicholas Braun and the film’s director and writers Michael Angelo Covino and Kyle Marvin.
An introverted space princess sets out to save her ex-girlfriend from Straight White Maliens in a crowd-pleasing animated comedy that’s been a hit on the festival circuit.
“Not only good for a laugh every ten seconds,” according to Matthew Crawley, “it’s also got ridiculously catchy tunes (it’s not a musical, don’t worry), plus the sexist, racist, homophobic, ableist, misogynist, impatient spaceship you didn’t know you needed in your life.”
An intimate account of former New Zealand PM Jacinda Ardern’s five years in power. Featuring footage shot by Ardern’s husband and unheard audio clips recorded by the Alexander Turnbull Library’s Political Diaries project, this will push all sorts of buttons with Ardern fans and detractors in Aotearoa. Further afield, audiences may take to this personal pic with fewer biases…
“For those wanting uniquely personal insight into Jacinda beyond the public persona, it offers deep rewards, most potently through unflinching close-ups that capture history unfolding across her face,” wrote Daniel Rutledge. “With everything that’s happened over the years, it’s easy to forget how singular a leader she was.”
At a support group for grieving siblings who’ve lost their twin (pretty niche), Roman (Dylan O’Brien) bonds with Dennis (James Sweeney, also the film’s writer-director)—but there’s more bubbling under the surface than much-needed emotional support…
“Narratively inventive with proper dramatic heft that fuels the abundance of cringe comedy, this would pair nicely with Andrew DeYoung’s Friendship for anyone daring a double feature on destructive clinginess,” challenges Liam Maguren.
