Briar Grace Smith's Feature Film Adaptation 'Cousins' Opens in New Zealand to Widespread Acclaim

Writer-director Briar Grace Smith’s feature film Cousins, an adaptation of the beloved New Zealand novel, opened in the country on March 4th to unwavering critical and audience acclaim. Briar co-directed the feature alongside Ainsley Gardiner.

The film entwines the very different lives of three Maori girls, cousins, through tumultuous decades, after one of them is taken from her family and raised in an orphanage.

Local publications, such as Stuff, said the film “requires your attention. Fortunately, its compelling narrative, evocative sense of space and place and terrific performances demand it.”

The Movie Army called the film, “one of the most important New Zealand films of the last decade that teaches us of our collective past while leaving us with a glimmer of hope on the horizon of our future.”

“Anchored by superb performances, and with the impacts of systemic dislocation and colonisation on Māori evident throughout, Cousins is a deeply moving dramatic triumph, one that stayed with me for some time after the cinema lights came back on” said Steve Newall from Flicks NZ and NewsHub said the film was something that “comes around once in a blue moon”.

You can watch the theatrical trailer below - Cousins is not yet dated in Australia.