Get the MovieNight app
Add it to your home screen — faster & full screen
Get the MovieNight app
Add it to your home screen — faster & full screen
Filmstiftung Nordrhein-Westfalen
New Zealand Film Commission
NZ on Air
Not part of a collection.
In the ways of the ancients she found a hope for the future.
A contemporary story of love, rejection, and triumph as a young Māori girl fights to fulfill a destiny her grandfather refuses to recognize.
CinemaSerf
Feb 13, 2026 · via TMDB
In a cinematic world where tens of millions can be dropped on big names, endless CGI and mediocre writing it’s nice to come across something that strips back the story and the characterisations to something more natural. This is one such film. The Whangara people have lived their way, in their community, since long before New Zealand came into being as a nation and all based on the legend of “Paikea” and his chieftain descendants. It is into this patriarchy that “Pai” (Keisha Castle-Hughes) is born but as she grows up she is prohibited by her grandfather “Koro” (Rawiri Paratene) from taking part in many of the activities in which she could easily outperform the boys, and so begins to feel dejected and isolated. What are her options? Is she going to follow in the footsteps of her traditional home-making grandmother or is she going to challenge the attitudes of time immemorial and prove that a girl is just as worthy to succeed her legendary namesake. This film works quite well from a couple of different perspectives. From her’s it shows us the tribulations of a capable girl struggling to overcome centuries of male-dominated tradition; from his it flips that coin and shows a man who is so steeped in those traditions that he feels himself powerless to alter them. As much as they share their heritage it is also what divides them. The last ten minutes give some meaning to the title, and those also sum up much of the symbiotic nature of the threads to a story that show a society in tandem with nature and the spirits, but not so much with the advance of time. Castle-Hughes and auteur Niki Caro’s screenplay from Witi Ihimaera’s strong and touching novel offer us a fine example of less being more along the windswept coasts of a land where the whales are as revered and respected as the memories of their human counterparts from years gone by.
User reviews courtesy of TMDB.
Amazon Video
Apple TV Store
Google Play Movies
YouTube
Fandango At Home
fuboTV
Philo
AMC Plus Apple TV channel
AMC+ Amazon Channel
AMC+ Roku Premium Channel
AMC+
Sundance Now
Shout! Factory Amazon Channel
Amazon Video
Apple TV Store
Google Play Movies
YouTube
Fandango At Home
Keisha Castle-Hughes
Paikea Apirana
Rawiri Paratene
Koro
Vicky Haughton
Nanny Flowers
Cliff Curtis
Porourangi
Grant Roa
Uncle Rawiri
Rachel House
Shilo
Taungaroa Emile
Willie
Tammy Davis
Dog
Rutene Spooner
Parekura
John Sumner
Obstetrician
Jane O'Kane
Anne
Niki Caro
Director
Christina Asher
Casting
Reinhard Brundig
Co-Producer
Lisa Gerrard
Original Music Composer
Niki Caro
Screenplay
La Fin des étés
History of Love
Die Siebzehnjährigen
All The Time In The World
Charms for the Easy Life
Cowboys Don't Cry
Léon: The Professional
Once Upon a Time in the West
La Dolce Vita
Nice Coloured Girls
A Bright Sun
The Sixth Sense
Braveheart
Shrek
Polisse
Mystic River
Batman Begins
Magnolia
Song of the Exile
Cat on a Hot Tin Roof
Thirst
Walk the Line
Hero
Breathless
The Rime of the Ancient Mariner
The Juniper Tree
The Big Blue
Europa '51
All of Us Strangers
Lost in Translation
Lolita
Kiss and Cry
Annaluise & Anton
Our Mother's House
The Rosa Parks Story
Saltwater
Open Hearts
Desert Hearts
Kung Fu Panda 2
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory
Strange Days
Summer Pasture
Ochtendzwemmers
Villa 69
Hunger
Comedy Queen
The Secret Life of Words
The Science of Sleep
Aristocrats
Grbavica: The Land of My Dreams
Beyond Silence
The State I Am In
The Hitch-Hiker
Sleepless in Seattle
About a Boy
Where Is Winky's Horse?
Pour un fils
Fiction.
Freak Show
Laps
The Forty-Year-Old Version
You Are Not I
Effi Briest
Watching it Rain
Wilbur Wants to Kill Himself
Small Deaths
StreetDance 3D
Kill the Day
Annika Bengtzon: Crime Reporter - Studio Sex
Some Other Stories
Nativity!
Bend It Like Beckham
Gasman
Ticket of No Return
Moonlight Shadow
Popular Music
Saute ma ville
A Tree in Tanjung Malim
Puerto Padre
Dive to Bermuda Triangle
My Life Without Me
Edie & Thea: A Very Long Engagement
Little Harbour
Die My Love
This Is My Life
Sixten
The Thief
Sin and Redemption
Sealed Cargo
Baronesa
Into the Blue
Another Prayer
Quarantine
Transfusion
Trading Mom
The Smiling Madame Beudet
Faustine and the Beautiful Summer
Posthumous
Speed Sisters
Almost Brothers
The Last Days of Chez Nous
Bollywood/Hollywood
Jamila and the President
Love for Share
The Ponder Heart
On the Edge
Tale of a Vampire
The Stalking of Laurie Show
Forgive and Forget
Subjectivity
Run Papa Run
Antarctica
My Life as a Comedian
Share
Macu, la mujer del policía
Cloned
Dive
Annika Bengtzon: Crime Reporter - Prime Time
It Happened Just Before
36 Fillette
You Kiss Like a God
Kawa
Tales of Mexico
The Romantics
You Wont Miss Me
Eyes of a Thief
Finn's Girl
A Chef in Love
Enough!
The Butterfly Lifts the Cat Up
Free the Nipple
Eine wie diese
Older Than America
Karlsson on the Roof
The Year Between
One Hot Summer
Extramarital
Awakened
Gypsies, Tramps & Thieves
Hallway
Clara s'en va mourir
Chants of Lotus
Afterparty
Have a Nice Day
Cover Me
The License
In Safe Hands
The Tale of the Spring Breeze
A Day Worth Dying For
The Perfect Fit
Wolpertinger
Suzanne
The Whale's Tooth
The Idiot(s)
The Lion King
Finding Nemo
Big Fish
The Shack
The Secret Life of Bees
Life of Pi
Wild Hearts Can't Be Broken
The Little Mermaid
Walkabout
The Tiger's Apprentice
Skater Girl
The Poseidon Adventure
Peter Pan
He-Man and She-Ra: The Secret of the Sword
In My Father's Den
Greyfriars Bobby
Scarygirl
The Rookie
The Secret of Roan Inish
The Spiderwick Chronicles
The Boss Baby: Christmas Bonus
LEGO Marvel Avengers: Code Red
Starving in Suburbia
Light of My Life
My Zoe
Where the Red Fern Grows
Last Ride
The Last Mimzy
Cassandra's Dream
The Land Before Time X: The Great Longneck Migration
Gold Diggers: The Secret of Bear Mountain
Born to Dance
Endless Night
God's Creatures
A Second Chance
Jan 18, 2003
Sundance Film Festival
May 7, 2003
Tribeca Film Festival
Jun 6, 2003
Aug 29, 2003
© 2025-2026 MovieNight. All rights reserved.
Versus
Sign in to play →
The Stranglers - Live '78, SF
1978
Saddle Leather Law
1944
Sign in to vote
Battle your watched movies head-to-head
Community Top Movies
Evil Dead II
1987 · 14 wins
The Dark Knight
2008 · 14 wins
Halloween
1978 · 13 wins
Final Destination
2000 · 12 wins
Halloween II
1981 · 11 wins
Trivia
Leaderboard →Playing as a guest — sign in to save your score and rank on the leaderboard.
Movie Trivia
Guess the movie from a clue — tagline, plot, cast and more. Pick from four posters.
What movie experience do you prefer?
What is your favorite movie genre?
Versus
Sign in to play →
The Stranglers - Live '78, SF
1978
Saddle Leather Law
1944
Sign in to vote
Battle your watched movies head-to-head
Community Top Movies
Evil Dead II
1987 · 14 wins
The Dark Knight
2008 · 14 wins
Halloween
1978 · 13 wins
Final Destination
2000 · 12 wins
Halloween II
1981 · 11 wins
Trivia
Leaderboard →Playing as a guest — sign in to save your score and rank on the leaderboard.
Movie Trivia
Guess the movie from a clue — tagline, plot, cast and more. Pick from four posters.
What movie experience do you prefer?
What is your favorite movie genre?
We use essential cookies to run MovieNight, plus analytics (Google Analytics) and advertising (Google AdSense) cookies. By continuing to browse, you agree to this — or click No and we won't. See our Terms & Privacy Policy to learn more.