Mārama

Screening times:
Saturday, July 18, 6:00 PM
Sunday, August 1, 7:45 PM

Taratoa Stappard | New Zealand | 2025 | 89m
English, Māori with English subtitles

1859, North Yorkshire, England. A young Māori woman, Mary Stevens, arrives in Whitby after her 73 day journey from New Zealand. Mary is an orphan, and Thomas Boyd has summoned her with a one-way ticket and a pledge to reveal her family history. But when she reaches Thomas’s cottage, Mary discovers he has been dead for months.Sir Nathaniel Cole is a local landowner with a vast fortune made as a South Seas whaler. He proposes to Mary that she work as governess to Anne, his eight-year-old granddaughter. Mary is trapped without prospects in an unfamiliar, hostile environment where betrayals and violent secrets await.

As Mary unravels the horrific truth of her colonial heritage, she embraces the spiritual powers inherited from her Māori female predecessors, battling to save Anne and avenge the murders of her mother and sister as she unleashes her righteous fury.

Please note: This film contains disturbing scenes of the violation and desecration of Māori culture.

“Mārama bears a striking clarity of purpose -- suggesting the horror genre still possesses the ability to turn even a long-ago moment of righteous fury into communal confrontation and spiritual release.” Alison Foreman IndieWire

“No film looks quite as striking as Mārama, the powerful Gothic horror film that takes audiences far beyond any supernatural elements.” Michael Ward Should I See It

Winner: Best Dramatic Feature, imagineNATIVE Film + Media Arts Festival, 2026 Winner: Jury Award, Seattle International Film Festival, 2026

Tickets $12 ($11.40 at the door if available)