Maori movies and TV shows

The list contains the best, new and most relevant maori movies ordered by relevance. The recommendation service has sorted out serious, independent film, realistic, suspenseful, psychological and disturbing films and TV shows about / with maori, family relations, danger, father daughter relationship, murder, beach, fight, indigenous, husband wife relationship and father son relationship plots mostly in Drama, Crime and Comedy genres shot in New Zealand, UK, USA and other countries.
maori
 41
maori movies
TOP 10 movies tagged as maori: The Dead Lands (2020), The Dead Lands (2014), Whale Rider (2002), Once Were Warriors (1994), River Queen (2005), Broken English (1996), Broken (2018), Hunt for the Wilderpeople (2016), Boy (2010), What We Do in the Shadows (2014).

List of maori movies

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The Dead Lands (2020)
Genre: Action, Fantasy, Horror
Country: New Zealand
TV show
Story: Waka, a murdered Māori warrior returned from the Afterlife, and Mehe, a determined young woman, embark on a quest to find who "broke the world" and how to close the breach between the living and the dead.
Style: sincere, captivating, tense, psychological, disturbing
Plot: evil dead, death, zombie, medieval, escapades, danger, love, adaptation, murder, society, hopes, couples ...
Time: stone age
Is relevant ?
What Becomes of the Broken Hearted? (1999)
Genre: Crime, Drama, Thriller
Country: New Zealand
Duration: 108 min.
Story: 5 Years have passed and Jake has turned his back on his family. He's still up to his usual tricks in McClutchy's Bar, unaware, as he downs his latest opponent, that his eldest son, Nig, Has died in a gang fight. The uncomfortable family ...
Style: multicultural, independent film, serious, realistic, rough ...
Plot: gang, recovery, indigenous people, prejudice, native american, pacific islander, lifestyle, gang violence, kids in trouble, family relations, family problems, rivalry ...
Time: 90s
Place: new zealand
Is relevant ?
The Dead Lands (2014)
Genre: Action, Adventure
Country: New Zealand, UK
Duration: 107 min.
Story: Hongi, a Maori chieftain’s teenage son, must avenge his father’s murder in order to bring peace and honour to the souls of his loved ones after his tribe is slaughtered through an act of treachery. Vastly outnumbered by a band of villains led by ...
Style: suspenseful, exciting, rough, serious, realistic
Plot: heroes, against the odds, survival, vengeance, danger, rivalry, youth, medieval, gory, master warrior, battles, martial arts ...
Place: new zealand, oceania
Is relevant ?
 7.5
 44K
Whale Rider (2002)
Genre: Drama, Family
Country: New Zealand, Germany
Duration: 101 min.
Story: On the east coast of New Zealand, the Whangara people believe their presence there dates back a thousand years or more to a single ancestor, Paikea, who escaped death when his canoe capsized by riding to shore on the back of a whale. From then on, ...
Style: touching, emotional, thought provoking, atmospheric, poignant ...
Audience: kids, girls' night, teens, family friendly, date night ...
Plot: sexism, whale, tradition, coming of age, childhood, culture clash, empowerment, youth, society, female protagonist, women, loss of son ...
Time: 2000s, year 2002, 21st century
Place: new zealand, oceania
Is relevant ?
Related movie lists
Once Were Warriors (1994)
Genre: Crime, Drama
Country: New Zealand
Duration: 102 min.
Story: A drama about a Maori family lving in Auckland, New Zealand. Lee Tamahori tells the story of Beth Heke’s strong will to keep her family together during times of unemployment and abuse from her violent and alcoholic husband.
Style: disturbing, brutal, depressing, controversial, realistic ...
Plot: gang, children, dysfunctional family, relationships, child abuse, indigenous people, ghetto, violent, sexual abuse, redemption, working class, family relations ...
Time: 20th century, year 1994, 90s
Place: new zealand, oceania
Is relevant ?
 5.9
 3K
River Queen (2005)
Genre: Action, Adventure, Drama, History, War
Country: New Zealand, UK
Duration: 114 min.
Story: An intimate story set during the 1860s in which a young Irish woman Sarah and her family find themselves on both sides of the turbulent wars between British and Maori during the British colonization of New Zealand.
Style: captivating, touching, sincere, epic, realistic ...
Plot: family relations, rescue, political unrest, hopes, danger, destiny, culture clash, parents and children, intrigue, british empire, river, battles ...
Time: 19th century, victorian era
Place: new zealand, ireland
Is relevant ?
 6.4
 738
Broken English (1996)
Genre: Drama, Romance
Country: New Zealand
Duration: 92 min.
Story: Ivan is the fierce patriarch of a family of Croatian refugees in Auckland. Nina is his daughter, ready to live on her own, despite his angry objections. Eddie is the Maori she takes as her lover. Nina works at a restaurant where Eddie cooks. For a ...
Style: sexy, serious, realistic, sexual, sentimental ...
Audience: girls' night
Plot: culture clash, interracial relations, dysfunctional family, sex, violence, interracial romance, hospital, wine, chase, erotica, migration, interracial ...
Time: year 1996, 90s
Place: new zealand, europe, former yugoslavia, oceania, bosnia herzegovina
Is relevant ?
 5.0
 185
Broken (2018)
Genre: Crime, Drama
Country: New Zealand
Duration: 97 min.
Story: Logan, an ex-gang leader, has left the gang life to raise his daughter Tori. But when Tori is murdered by an opposing gang in town, Logan must choose forgiveness or revenge.
Plot: gang, forgiveness, hopes, tragedy, redemption, god, murder, surfing, boxing, betrayal, revenge, fight ...
Is relevant ?
Hunt for the Wilderpeople (2016)
Genre: Adventure, Comedy, Drama
Country: New Zealand
Duration: 101 min.
Story: Ricky is a defiant young city kid who finds himself on the run with his cantankerous foster uncle in the wild New Zealand bush. A national manhunt ensues, and the two are forced to put aside their differences and work together to survive.
Style: funny, touching, feel good, humorous, scenic ...
Audience: kids, family friendly, teens, girls' night
Plot: coming of age, nature, adoption, wilderness, boy, hunting, juvenile delinquent, childhood, manhunt, dog, fat boy, countryside ...
Time: 2010s, year 2016
Place: new zealand, indiana, oceania, persia
Is relevant ?
 7.5
 29K
Boy (2010)
Genre: Comedy, Drama
Country: New Zealand
Duration: 87 min.
Story: It's 1984, and Michael Jackson is king - even in Waihau Bay, New Zealand. Here we meet Boy, an 11-year-old who lives on a farm with his gran, a goat, and his younger brother, Rocky (who thinks he has magic powers). Shortly after Gran leaves for ...
Style: touching, humorous, surreal, unusual plot structure, visually appealing ...
Plot: coming of age, childhood, absent father, youth, small town, daydreamer, family relations, father son relationship, mischievous children, parents and children, unsupportive parent, robbery ...
Time: 80s, year 2010, 2010s, year 1984, 20th century
Place: new zealand, oceania
Is relevant ?
What We Do in the Shadows (2014)
Genre: Comedy, Horror
Country: New Zealand
Duration: 86 min.
Story: Vampire housemates try to cope with the complexities of modern life and show a newly turned hipster some of the perks of being undead.
Style: mockumentary, absurd, humorous, gothic, parody ...
Audience: family friendly, kids, teens, adult
Plot: vampire, dark humor, werewolf, friendship, supernatural, goth, blood, immortality, social misfits, roommate, zombie, found footage ...
Time: 2010s, year 2014, year 1912, year 1978, year 1997 ...
Place: new zealand, oceania, indiana
Is relevant ?
 6.0
 646
Jack Be Nimble (1993)
Genre: Horror, Thriller
Country: New Zealand
Duration: 95 min.
Story: Jack and Dora, abandoned by their parents as babies, are desperate to find each other after years of adoption. Jack's young life has been spent with a sadistic family. Dora, whose life has been somewhat better, has developed extra-sensory ...
Style: gothic, dark, gothic horror, dark comedy, independent film ...
Plot: coming of age, revenge, evil child, bad kids, vigilante, bad father, adoption, stepmother stepson relationship, child in peril, siblings relations, family life, urban ...
Time: year 1993, 90s
Is relevant ?
Related movie lists
 6.3
 1K
Scarfies (1999)
Genre: Action, Comedy, Thriller
Country: New Zealand
Duration: 94 min.
Story: This dark comedy is set in Dunedin, New Zealand. A university student finds an old "abandoned" house and proceeds to invite other students to share. It even has running electricity. But what is the catch?
Style: cult classic, semi serious, realistic, cynical, suspenseful ...
Plot: weed, caper, marijuana, gang, abandoned, youth, criminal heroes, drug dealing, nothing goes right, crime gone awry, unlikely criminals, cons and scams ...
Time: 90s
Place: new zealand
Is relevant ?
 6.9
 2K
Rain (2001)
Genre: Drama, Romance
Country: New Zealand
Duration: 92 min.
Story: Janey is on vacation with her brother, Jim, mother, Kate, and father Ed, at their beach house on the Mahurangi Peninsual in New Zealand. Ed and Kate, who are on the verge of divorce, sit around in the back yard all day drinking whiskey and Janey and ...
Style: bleak, melancholic, emotional, sexual, sincere ...
Audience: girls' night
Plot: coming of age, dysfunctional family, vacation, boy, women, family problems, parents and children, siblings relations, infidelity, youth, crumbling marriage, skinny dipping ...
Time: 70s, 20th century
Place: new zealand, iowa, australia
Is relevant ?
In My Father's Den (2004)
Genre: Drama, Mystery, Thriller
Country: New Zealand, UK
Duration: 127 min.
Story: Paul (Macfadyen), a prize-winning war journalist, returns to his remote New Zealand hometown due to the death of his father, battle-scarred and world-weary. For the discontented sixteen-year-old Celia (Barclay) he opens up a world she has only ...
Style: suspenseful, psychological, emotional, talky, atmospheric ...
Plot: journalism, small town, father daughter relationship, homecoming, small town life, society, doubts and hesitations, haunted by the past, reporter, betrayal, friendship, self discovery ...
Time: year 2004
Place: new zealand
Is relevant ?
Out of the Blue (2006)
Genre: Crime, Drama
Country: New Zealand
Duration: 103 min.
Story: Ordinary people find extraordinary courage in the face of madness. On 13–14 November 1990 that madness came to Aramoana, a small New Zealand seaside town, in the form of a lone gunman with a high-powered semi-automatic rifle. As he stalked his ...
Style: suspenseful, serious, realistic, tense, captivating ...
Plot: stalking, serial killer, unemployment, survival, village life, danger, true crime, mental illness, murder, child in peril, mental breakdown, coming of age ...
Time: year 1990
Place: new zealand
Is relevant ?
 6.7
 37K
Housebound (2014)
Genre: Comedy, Horror, Mystery
Country: New Zealand
Duration: 107 min.
Story: When Kylie Bucknell is sentenced to home detention, she's forced to come to terms with her unsociable behaviour, her blabbering mother and a hostile spirit who seems less than happy about the new living arrangement.
Style: scary, suspense, suspenseful, horror comedy, disturbing ...
Audience: date night, teens
Plot: haunted house, house arrest, supernatural, female protagonist, plot twist, parents and children, ghost, police investigation, dark humor, blood, haunted, danger ...
Time: 2010s, 21st century
Place: new zealand, oceania
Is relevant ?
The Patriarch (2016)
Genre: Drama
Country: New Zealand
Duration: 103 min.
Story: It is the 1960s. Two Maori families, the Mahanas and the Poatas, make a living shearing sheep on the east coast of New Zealand. The two clans, who are bitter enemies, face each other as rivals at the annual sheep shearing competitions. Simeon is a ...
Style: psychological, sincere, captivating, disturbing
Plot: farm, husband wife relationship, family relations, marital reconciliation, family life, reconciliation, relationships, village life, countryside, father son reconciliation, wilderness, lifestyle ...
Time: 60s
Place: new zealand, oceania
Is relevant ?
Related movie lists
 6.3
 1K
Punch (2022)
Genre: Drama, Romance, Sport
Country: New Zealand
Duration: 98 min.
Story: Jim is preparing for his first professional fight but begins to rethink his life's trajectory and his sexuality after tangling with Whetu, a gay Maori boy who spends his days in an old shack down by the beach.
Style: captivating, disturbing, psychological, gay cinema, queer cinema
Plot: gay interest, boxing, gay teenager, gay, beach, gay relationship, gay bashing, teenage boy, gay lead character, male homosexuality, relationship problems, homosexuality ...
Time: 2020s, 21st century
Place: new zealand
Is relevant ?
One Lane Bridge (2020)
Genre: Crime, Drama, Fantasy
Country: New Zealand
Duration: 52 min.
TV show
Story: During a murder investigation in Queenstown, an ambitious young detective reawakens a spiritual gift that endangers the case, his career and his life.
Style: detective, tense, suspenseful, suspense, unusual plot structure ...
Plot: murder, police detective, police investigation, who done it, murder investigation, partner, death, vengeance, danger, graphic violence, murder mystery, chase ...
Time: future, 21st century
Place: new zealand
Is relevant ?
The Luminaries (2020)
Genre: Adventure, Drama, Mystery
Country: UK, New Zealand
Duration: 60 min.
TV show
Story: The 19th-century tale of love, murder and revenge as men and women travel across the world to make their fortunes on the wild West Coast of New Zealand's South Island.
Style: tense, disturbing, suspense, ironic, historical drama ...
Plot: treasure, treasure hunt, prostitute, gold rush, gold, buried treasure, greed, ambition, wilderness, one last chance, escapades, feminist ...
Time: 19th century, 1860s, victorian era
Place: new zealand
Is relevant ?
Nights in the Gardens of Spain (2010)
Genre: Drama, Romance
Country: New Zealand
Duration: 76 min.
Story: Kawariki must become the leader of the family after his father retires in this intimate drama. A husband and father, he realizes that in order to lead with integrity, he must come out and be honest about his own life, even though it will test the ...
Style: realistic, emotional, psychological, sentimental, serious ...
Plot: gay, gender, family relations, homosexuality, crumbling marriage, society, couples, lgbt, family in crisis, family problems, secret, double life ...
Time: 21st century
Place: new zealand
Is relevant ?
 7.2
 232
Rūrangi (2020)
Genre: Drama
Country: New Zealand
Duration: 96 min.
TV show
Story: After skipping town a decade ago, transgender activist Caz Davis returns to the remote, politically divided dairy community of Rurangi, hoping to reconnect with his estranged father, who hasn't heard from him since before Caz transitioned.
Style: psychological, captivating, thrilling, queer cinema
Plot: lgbtq, family problems, lgbt, social problems, transsexual, lifestyle, homecoming, relationships, society, relationship problems, transsexuality, transvestite ...
Place: new zealand
Is relevant ?
Related movie lists
 6.4
 2K
Pork Pie (2017)
Genre: Action, Comedy, Crime, Drama, Romance
Country: New Zealand
Duration: 105 min.
Story: This remake of 1981’s Goodbye Pork Pie tracks the escapades of a trio of accidental outlaws as they travel the length of New Zealand protesting conformity and chasing lost love, with a posse of cops and a media frenzy in pursuit.
Style: cult classic, road movie
Plot: pursuit, police, escapades, outlaw, protest, media, lost love, bare chested male, buddy, lawyer, journey, car chase ...
Time: future
Place: new zealand, oceania
Is relevant ?
Down by the Riverside (2007)
Genre: Crime, Drama, Horror, Mystery, Thriller
Country: New Zealand
Duration: 84 min.
Story: An intertwining story of murder and mystery across two decades. In the early twentieth century, several pregnant girls meet in a country house, where they have been sent to give birth and have their children adopted. The girls are never seen by ...
Style: neo noir, suspense, bleak, suspenseful, exciting ...
Plot: serial killer, death, chase, spy, murder, psychopath, wilhelm scream, true crime, house, truth, flirting, escape ...
Place: new zealand
Is relevant ?
Alien Addiction (2018)
Genre: Comedy, Sci-Fi
Country: New Zealand
Duration: 98 min.
Story: Riko lives with his auntie in a rural town of New Zealand. He's habitually idle most days, hanging with his mates and causing trouble, until one day while out in the woods he stumbles across a UFO. Riko discovers two aliens, he befriends them, ...
Style: futuristic, captivating, entertaining, light, feel good ...
Plot: alien contact, human alien relationship, alien encounter, ufo, escapades, alien creature, humour, alien race, lifestyle, alien space craft, space, disguise ...
Place: new zealand
Is relevant ?
The Quiet Earth (1985)
Genre: Drama, Mystery, Sci-Fi
Country: New Zealand
Duration: 91 min.
Story: After a top-secret experiment misfires, a scientist may be the only man left alive in the world.
Style: philosophical, mind bending, mindfuck, surreal, apocalyptic ...
Plot: post apocalypse, apocalypse, alone, male nudity, dystopia, end of the world, post apocalyptic, disaster, distopia, vestiges of humanity, love triangle, cyberpunk ...
Time: year 1985, future
Place: new zealand
Is relevant ?
In Search of the Castaways (1962)
Genre: Adventure, Family, Fantasy
Country: USA, UK
Duration: 98 min.
Story: In Search of the Castaways is a 1962 Walt Disney Productions feature film starring Hayley Mills and Maurice Chevalier in a tale about a worldwide search for a shipwrecked sea captain. The film was directed by Robert Stevenson from a screenplay by ...
Style: scenic, entertaining, exciting, witty, sweet ...
Audience: kids, family outing, pre-teens
Plot: treasure hunt, ship, survival, pirate, fantasy world, heroic mission, rescue, friendship, race against time, danger, daring rescue, adventurer ...
Time: victorian era, 19th century, 60s, 1850s
Place: australia, south america, new zealand, latin america, chile ...
Is relevant ?
 4.7
 2K
The Ferryman (2007)
Genre: Fantasy, Horror, Thriller
Country: New Zealand, UK
Duration: 100 min.
Story: Out on a dead calm ocean, in a thick fog, a group of tourists on a pleasure craft are about to cross paths with an ancient and terrible evil. Sharing the same ocean, a sick, dying old Greek man drifts alone on a stricken yacht. The Greek (John ...
Style: slasher, suspenseful, rough, atmospheric, serious ...
Plot: ghost ship, gory, supernatural, imaginary, danger, ghost, good versus evil, curses spells and rituals, legends and myths, escapades, rivalry, vengeance ...
Place: oceania, new zealand
Is relevant ?
 6.6
 253K
Ender's Game (2013)
Genre: Action, Adventure, Sci-Fi
Country: USA
Duration: 114 min.
Story: Based on the classic novel by Orson Scott Card, Ender's Game is the story of the Earth's most gifted children training to defend their homeplanet in the space wars of the future.
Style: futuristic, serious, exciting, entertaining, intense ...
Audience: teens, kids, girls' night, chick flick, family outing ...
Plot: alien, chosen one, invasion, space wars, training, battles, space travel, young heroes, space and aliens, genius, prodigy, child prodigy ...
Time: future, 2010s, year 2013, near future
Is relevant ?
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