Juniper review - a classic role for Charlotte Rampling

★★★★ JUNIPER A grandmother in New Zealand faces up to death, a grandson to life

A grandmother in New Zealand faces up to death, a grandson to life

Juniper provides, above all, an absolutely unforgettable role for Charlotte Rampling. New Zealander Matthew J Saville, who devised the script and directed the film, based her character, Ruth, on his own feisty and well-travelled grandmother, who had led a full life, and then returned home – where she drank substantial quantities of gin every day.

Blu-ray/4K Ultra HD: The Piano

Jane Campion's colonial New Zealand masterpiece re-mastered

Jane Campion’s enigmatic, triple-Oscar-winning film looks as beautiful as it did when it was released almost 30 years ago. Holly Hunter (you can’t help thinking she’s been underused ever since, give or take her performance in Campion’s Top of the Lake) is magnificent as the black-haired Ada, a mysteriously mute Scot who is sold by her father to frontiersman Alisdair Stewart (Sam Neill) and joins him as his wife in the wilderness of 19th-century New Zealand.

Album: Tami Neilson - Kingmaker

★★★★★ TAMI NEILSON - KINGMAKER Musically contagious and breathtakingly lyrical new album from Canadian country star

Musically contagious and breathtakingly lyrical new album from Canadian country star

We music journos miss stuff too. This writer had not come across New Zealand-based Canadian singer Tami Neilson before, despite the fact she’s been around for over a decade and this is her sixth studio album. How did I miss her?

Baby Done review - romcom done right

★★★★ BABY DONE Funny, sincere, charming Kiwi comedy about unexpected pregnancy

Funny, sincere and completely charming Kiwi comedy about unexpected pregnancy

Romcoms. We all know the tried and tested formula: immature guy, uptight girl, they meet, they like each other, hate each other, and end up in love. It’s as reliable as it is unrealistic, and sometimes it takes a film like Baby Done to remind you there is a better way.

Savage review - an immersive look at gang culture in Wellington, New Zealand

★★★ SAVAGE Sam Kelly's debut feature examines the links between borstal and gangland

Sam Kelly's debut feature sets out to examine the links between borstal and gangland

Not to be confused with Savages, the Oliver Stone film of 2012 about marijuana smuggling, Savage is a story of New Zealand street gangs: how to join and how to escape, which, when you’ve got the words Savages and Poneke (the Maori name for Wellington, where the film is set) tattooed on your face, like Danny, aka Damage (Jake Ryan), is not going to be easy.

The Luminaries, BBC One review - one of the most visually arresting dramas of the year

★★★★ THE LUMINARIES, BBC ONE One of the year's most visually arresting dramas

Based on the Booker Prize-winning novel, this new big budget murder mystery sparkles and shines

Alarm bells start ringing whenever you discover an author is adapting their own work for a screenplay. In the case of New Zealand novelist Eleanor Catton, the alarm proves to be false. 

Patricia Grace: Potiki review – a searching examination of human nature

★★★★ PATRICIA GRACE: POTIKI A searching examination of human nature

The re-release of Grace's novel offers a timely insight into contemporary issues

With the publication of her first work, Waiariki (1975), Patricia Grace became the author of the first ever collection of short stories by a Māori woman. In the four-and-a-half decades since, she has established herself as a canonical figure in postcolonial and Māori literature.