A haunting film set in Wellington has arrived in local cinemas, after rave reviews at the Berlin Film Festival.
One Thousand Ropes is the second feature from Samoan-New Zealand filmmaker Tusi Tamasese.
There are many themes running strong through Tamasese's latest film, and just like his first feature The Orator, he communicates those themes with a very distinctive voice.
Maea casts a lonely, intriguing figure, as he makes his way gently and unobtrusively through each day.
He practises traditional pregnancy massage and midwifery, and makes bread at a local bakery.
It's clear his past was far from gentle, and he is living alone with the sins of that past to haunt him.
When his youngest daughter walks back through his doorway, no stranger from the fist yet again, and heavily pregnant, he has a chance at some kind of redemption.
It will take a strong woman to let him try.
For rising star Frankie Adams, playing Illisa was a rare opportunity to work with Tamasese and tell a story stemming from her own Samoan heritage.
"For me it was mostly nostalgia. Mum spoke to me in Samoan growing up - it made it more intimate for me, more comfortable having the Samoan language," she told Newshub.
Adams describes Ilisa as strong, but vulnerable.
"She's a thinker. She doesn't talk too much. I only say about 30 lines in the end, less maybe, in the final cut. Tusi doesn't like his characters to talk too much!"
Tamasese is a man of action, more than words. He chooses to communicate the essence of the violence here off-camera.
"I feel it's more powerful not to show violence and that's what I tried in this film," he told Newshub.
"We've already seen it, and in this film it's more about the consequences of the violence."
Those many consequences make for potent viewing.
One Thousand Ropes should and must be seen on the big screen and has just opened in cinemas across the country.
Newshub.
