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New Zealand · 2021
1h 38m
Director Ainsley Gardiner, Briar Grace Smith
Starring Tanea Heke, Rachel House, Briar Grace Smith, Ana Scotney
Genre Drama
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The story of Mata, raised by a cruel guardian who keeps her from her family, Makareta, the reluctant princess of her tribe, and Missy, overlooked but in the end the glue that holds them together. Three cousins, once thrown together and as women grown apart, ultimately sharing a connection that can never be broken.
The New York Times by Devika Girish
Widespread racism, discriminatory laws and the Maori people’s centuries-long struggle for autonomy bracket the characters’ lives in Cousins. The film trembles with sound, color and feeling, deriving much of its power from an excellent ensemble cast (particularly Te Raukura Gray and Ana Scotney as the child and adult Mata).
The Film Stage by Jared Mobarak
Since each one of these cousins has led such a distinct life from the others despite coming from the same place, everyone watching will be able to see a bit of themselves in one or more of them too. That’s why culturally relevant stories like Cousins are so crucial to understanding our world. They show us how alike we are no matter our religion, history, or skin color. To see their struggle is to sometimes know your role in its creation. To see their courage is to be inspired.
A poetic drama about the lives of three Maori girls from the 1950s to the 1980s, Cousins is a heart-breaker, tempered with hope.
What Smith and Gardiner have adapted is a rare and precious thing, a movie whose narrative momentum is carried by the simplest of longings — hope.
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