Holy Days

Bluesky

A cheerful comedy about three nuns going on a road trip with a sweet-natured boy who is struggling to get over his mother’s death might sound like the sort of film that’s bad for your teeth. The potential sugariness of the story has been toned down considerably, however, in a way that makes sense when you learn it’s from Aotearoa/New Zealand. The nuns are the last three residents of a former mother and baby home which seems to have been loved by everyone, but the wider issue of forced residences is not ignored. The boy, Brian (Elijah Tamati) is a Maori kid who, it emerges, has been committing small sins with the express intention of being given penance so that he can hang out there. Elements of Catholic and Maori tradition intertwine in a way that shows respect for both whilst leaving room for a suitable degree of irreverence.

Sudden urgency is introduced into the lives of the peaceful sisters when they get wind of a scheme to sell off their crumbling convent so the land can be turned into a luxury hotel by developers. This would mean the mentally frail Sister Luke (Miriam Margolyes) being dumped in a care home known to be abusive, whilst sisters Agnes (Judy Davis) and Mary Clare (Jacki Weaver) would be forcibly retired. They realise that with a van due to arrive the following morning to take them away, their only hope may lie in a pedal to the metal journey to the South Island to find their old friend Patricia, who has the original property deeds. Naturally, Brian finds a way to tag along.

What follows is a road movie full of mishaps, misapprehensions and forgivable mischief. The sisters have no money and only a ghost of a plan, but they have faith that the Lord God will provide and, well, let’s just say that He works in mysterious ways. Sister Agnes’ well honed negotiating skills also prove to be an advantage, with her steely courage just about holding everything together. From map-reading to shooing away cows which are blocking the road, Brian proves to have all manner of useful skills. He also has an agenda of his own, however, which the sisters may not fully understand. When it turns out that finding those deeds is not as simple as expected, the journey takes a detour toward the mountain sacred to his mother’s whānau. Not quite understanding about death, he hopes to find her there and bring her home.

Despite dealing with loss and some of the complicated feelings surrounding it, the film is mostly upbeat, its moments of melancholy serving to reinforce the bonds between the survivors and their sense that the dead remain a part of the rich tapestry of existence. Tamati is superb and young viewers will really relate to Brian’s response to feeling helpless and betrayed, from sulking and sudden tantrums at the dinner table to a gleeful attempt to destroy his prospective stepmother Liz’s wedding dress. Even at his worst he remains loveable, including to Liz (played by director Nat Boltt), who proves to be an unexpected ally and a capable troublemaker herself. For the most part, though, Brian is too full of wonder at the world to be down for long, and the adventure with the nuns gives him plenty of exciting distractions. He also discovers that they’re not quite as well behaved as they liked people to think.

Whilst some parts of the story feel a bit too contrived, the film’s mixture of good-heartedness and fierce humour carries it easily over most of the bumps in the road. Catholics will appreciate the canny way that the nuns manage to hold their own against a conniving bishop and untrustworthy hard-drinking priest. The pacing is good, the comic timing even better, and slower stretches without dialogue are presented by way of charming animated models, whose presence adds to the sense that we’re being told a ripping yarn. It’s a feelgood film but with sufficient wit to be memorable, and one of those rare works that really will entertain viewers of every age.

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