'Mārama' review: Gothic horror drama wants them back | TIFF 2025

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Might as well rename it Dorkshire if these are the sorts of people you encounter there. But we will be professional for a second since Mārama has booked us a one-way ticket to North Yorkshire to experience the ebb and flow of this gothic horror drama. It's 1859 and we travel alongside Mary Stevens (Ariāna Osborne), a Māori woman voyaging from New Zealand a.k.a Aotearoa to England. With no immediate family, she's looking to learn about her family history from an acquaintance, but because he has died recently, she's left stranded in a strange place.

Mary then finds herself at a manor owned by Nathaniel Cole (Toby Stephens), a wealthy Brit who offers her a job as a governess because his eight-year-old granddaughter Anne (Evelyn Towersey) lives under his care. Nathaniel is weirdly fascinated by Māori people and their culture, having "collected" all kinds of artifacts and even architecture during and after his adventures in New Zealand. Naturally, Nathaniel also used to know Mary's family, which further encourages her to find out the true story and perhaps exact revenge for any injustice that may have occurred.

Unlike the manor, which is undoubtedly built on greed, suffering and exploitation, the film itself has a strong foundation. In his debut feature, writer-director Taratoa Stappard taps into cultural identities, racism, appropriation and the aftershocks of colonialism with this specific story, lending the project plenty of stirring drama. Amplifying those themes and ideas floating around are well-defined characters and a solid lead performance by Osborne who shows a lot of range. As horror/thriller filmmakers, though, Stappard and co. still have room to improve. The atmosphere, the slightly more abstract imagery, dialogue, pacing and Dan Kircher's editing are all a bit uneven, and so the flow from one scene to another isn't propulsive enough. This leads to an outcome where the tension evaporates at times.

Along with Osborne, another element elevating both the great and less effective scenes is the craft on display. Nick Williams' production design looks rather fantastic for a (presumably) fairly low-budget movie and it fills the frames with anguish and history; Sarah Voon's costume design complements those sets and characters with faux elegance and a gorgeous sheen that hides any transgressions; and cinematographer Gin Loane shoots the spaces and actors handsomely even in darker scenes. Stappard makes an impressive entrance when it comes to technical artistry and there are some moments where that proficiency harmonises beautifully with the thematic exploration. The obvious example is a scene where Mary discovers her breaking point and performs a haka, and pretty much every scene where cultural specificity meets vultures, as those instances draw lines between the Māori's honour and the rot of a white man's colonialism.

You should be able to gather from the title that this is also about Mary embracing herself as and becoming Mārama. That turns the movie into a revenge thriller of sorts towards the end, which is executed really well—the payoff is stylish and satisfying despite being very predictable. You might expect the narrative to be driven by anger, and while there is rightful rage in the mix, the main emotions that the film ends up devouring are sorrow and disgust. It's a more intelligent tale because of it. You can also safely bet that it will age more gracefully than the tomfoolery of Nathaniel and other Brits in his manor. Man, those guys suck.

Smileys: Production design, costume design

Frowneys: Atmosphere

Kill him with a single blow, call that a "Cole in one".

3.5/5

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