
Orphans and Kingdoms
New Zealand drama set on Waiheke Island, following three teens who break into a holiday home for a night of partying when the owner (Colin Moy, In My Father’s Den) unexpectedly arrives. The trio confront and apprehend him, but as the night turns into dawn, the lonely man and the troubled teens find a connection in the most unexpected of ways. The directorial debut of NZ actor Paolo Rotondo (Stickmen) and the final project of the NZ Film Commission's Escalator scheme, which produced the nationally-praised Fantail.
- Director:
- Paolo Rotondo (feature debut)
- Writer:
- Paolo Rotondo
- Cast:
- Colin MoyCalae Hignett-MorganHanelle HarrisJesse James Rehu PickeryFin McLachlan

Reviews & comments

Flicks, Adam Fresco
flicksLow budget and local all too often translate to what’s basically a TV movie bunged up on the big screen. In his feature debut, writer/director Paolo Rotondo deftly avoids all the usual clichés and pitfalls, cleverly keeping the action largely confined to a home under siege, and delivering that rarest of micro-budget gems – a real honest-to-the-moniker movie.
a contrast to the wilderpeople
If you go to the Wilderpeople one week and then go to this movie you'll think about how you laughed through Ricky's cameo of doing bad stuff. Here we see young people doing similar bad stuff and it seems, well, really bad. Here a darker Ricky and his siblings are portrayed in grittier and, sometimes, more realistic environment. Only sometimes though...

Stuff
pressA terribly impressive first feature film by a local director, which speaks volumes about the power of collaboration between talented, hard-working industry people and the inspiration of a damn good story.

New Zealand Listener
pressA finely told and fine-looking debut feature that knows exactly when to restrain itself and when to explode.

Flicks, Adam Fresco
flicksLow budget and local all too often translate to what’s basically a TV movie bunged up on the big screen. In his feature debut, writer/director Paolo Rotondo deftly avoids all the usual clichés and pitfalls, cleverly keeping the action largely confined to a home under siege, and delivering that rarest of micro-budget gems – a real honest-to-the-moniker movie.

Stuff
pressA terribly impressive first feature film by a local director, which speaks volumes about the power of collaboration between talented, hard-working industry people and the inspiration of a damn good story.

New Zealand Listener
pressA finely told and fine-looking debut feature that knows exactly when to restrain itself and when to explode.
a contrast to the wilderpeople
If you go to the Wilderpeople one week and then go to this movie you'll think about how you laughed through Ricky's cameo of doing bad stuff. Here we see young people doing similar bad stuff and it seems, well, really bad. Here a darker Ricky and his siblings are portrayed in grittier and, sometimes, more realistic environment. Only sometimes though...
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