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 Wirepa, Hongi’s only hope is to pass through the feared and forbidden “Dead Lands” and forge an uneasy alliance with a mysterious warrior, a ruthless fighter who has ruled the area for years.
Practical Effects
All fighting shot in real New Zealand locations, zero green screen cowardice
Acting
Lawrence Makoare's wordless menace could freeze lava
Direction
Toa Fraser makes every frame feel like ancestral memory
Director
Toa Fraser
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
The film was shot entirely in te reo Māori, a deliberate choice by Fraser to center Indigenous language in an action genre typically dominated by English. This wasn't subtitle-friendly tokenism—it was linguistic sovereignty with fight choreography.
Lawrence Makoare (the Warrior) played multiple Lord of the Rings villains including the Witch-King and Lurtz, making this his most human role despite playing a literal bogeyman. The man knows his way around a death scene.
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