I'm getting tired of NZ films like this. They have poor stories, the scripted dialogue is ridiculous and they are badly acted. Six years on and this type of NZ film is still being made. How did the Australians make the giant leap into quality film and somehow the Kiwis are still fumbling around like a High School Play Group? This film reeks of the liberal ideas and attitudes that are coming to a close in NZ. The story is desperate to attack traditional NZ culture and values, yet instead of actually telling the truth -which would do it better- they present common ignorant liberal assumptions.
There is so much kitschy rubbish throughout it: scenes constructed from what the filmmaker must imagine rural NZ is like instead of what it actually is. It gives the impression that NZ culture is stuck on top of the people like a cheap plastic toy on the dashboard of a car. If you live in NZ or are familiar with it's people you'll laugh at some of the sanitised characterisations.
Why was it even necessary to drift off into sci-fi? Is the truth really that hard to face? Or is it because the filmmaker really had nothing to say outside of proclaiming they, personally, imagine themselves to be "badass."