The Convert, 2024.
Directed by Lee Tamahori.
Starring Guy Pearce, Tioreore Ngatai-Melbourne, Antonio Te Maioha, Jacqueline McKenzie, Lawrence Makoare, Dean O’Gorman, Ariki Turner, Duane Evans Jr., Tomika Whiu, Jack Barry, Mark Sole, Quinn Sugrue, Mark Mitchinson, Matthew Chamberlain, Madeleine McCarthy, Renee Lyons, Aidee Walker, Jared Turner, Edmund Eramiha, Richard Falkner, Will Wallace, Matia Mitai, Tania Nolan, and Stephen Lovatt.
SYNOPSIS:
A lay preacher arrives at a British settlement in 1830s. His violent past is soon drawn into question and his faith put to the test, as he finds himself caught in the middle of a bloody war between Maori tribes.
Nailing 1800s Māori cultural authenticity and boasting some thrillingly barbaric skirmishes between warring tribes, co-writer/director Lee Tamahori’s The Convert is uneasy to shake the feeling that it is stuck between two perspectives, struggling to do the most with either of them. One of those perspectives is Guy Pearce’s religious priest Thomas Munro escorted into a British settlement to take over preaching duties, an area which also has its share of Māori fighting. Currently, we know this land as New Zealand.
A man of the earth, Thomas also pleads with the ship captain to let him rest on the nearby land while they gather timber and other materials for scheduled repairs. It’s also at this time Thomas inadvertently comes across ruthless tribe leader Akatawera (Lawrence Makoare), unafraid to slaughter members of opposing tribes. While there are several deaths, Thomas successfully barters and saves the life of Rangimal (Tioreore Ngatai-Melbourne), but not before her husband is murdered in cold blood. He brings her with them to the Epworth settlement to look after her and help her get back on her feet.
What ensues is an ever-familiar story of a white man coming to terms with the fact that he must reassess his stance, as those British settlers are also pushing into Māori territory, further complicating matters. He also has a tortured backstory of having committed war atrocities himself for the British, and also develops a rote romance with a grieving woman named Charlotte (Jacqueline McKenzie), with the wisdom and knowledge to impart regarding the Māori having been married to one. She also serves as a translator when he ditches the settlement to help out one of the tribes. Essentially, it’s a lot of white guilt moral awakening, this time being the kind that causes the protagonist to take a step back and interrogate their faith.
From the moment Thomas encourages Rangimal to participate in a local dance where judgmental white eyes stare at her upon entry, as if her kind shouldn’t even be allowed into the village, let alone the building, it’s evident what narrative trajectory The Convert will take on. And while it tries to bring some depth to the Māori characters, the story there feels just as broad as the generic arc for Thomas, without digging into true political intrigue. It’s as if the filmmakers (Michael Bennett and Shane Danielsen collaborate on the screenplay) felt that period piece recreation and a couple of intense bookending battles were enough to cover up flimsy and stale storytelling. There is also no denying that these vast landscapes are sumptuously shot by cinematographer Gin Loane.
The biggest crime is that for much of its two-hour running time, The Convert is tediously boring as it tells a rather conventional tale about colonialism. This is not to say that the Thomas character doesn’t belong here, but there is something to question about him being the central window into this narrative. It’s a confounding creative choice rendered more surprisingly baffling when the ending credits reveal a filmmaker of Maori descent directed this. It’s a film that’s trying to get by on visual authenticity and appropriately grim violence, lacking in substance everywhere else.
Flickering Myth Rating – Film: ★ ★ ★ / Movie: ★ ★
Robert Kojder is a member of the Chicago Film Critics Association and the Critics Choice Association. He is also the Flickering Myth Reviews Editor. Check here for new reviews, follow my Twitter or Letterboxd, or email me at MetalGearSolid719@gmail.com
