‘Mārama’ unleashes the shadows with a haunting new vision of Māori Gothic Cinema
There’s something dark stirring in the fog, and it’s ready to take you. The official trailer for Mārama has dropped, heralding the arrival of one of the most striking and atmospheric horror debuts to ever rise from Aotearoa.
Helmed by visionary filmmaker Taratoa Stappard, Mārama marks a bold new chapter in New Zealand cinema; a Māori Gothic fever dream that blends colonial dread, ancestral spirits, and raw emotion into an experience that crawls under your skin and lingers long after the credits roll.
Watch the all-new trailer for Mārama here:
Here’s the official synopsis:
1859. When a young, Māori woman is summoned from New Zealand to North Yorkshire, she uncovers the horrific truth of her colonial heritage, and she must destroy the titled Englishman who has devastated her family.
After its world premiere in the Discovery programme at the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) — the prestigious launchpad for the world’s most daring new voices: Mārama has continued to make waves across the global festival circuit.
From Fantastic Fest in Austin to the Zurich Film Festival, Sitges, and upcoming screenings at Hawai‘i International Film Festival and AFI Fest, Stappard’s debut has captivated critics and audiences alike, hailed as a stunning new evolution of Māori Gothic cinema, a genre steeped in history, identity, and the supernatural.
Set against the bleak moors and haunting fog of Victorian-era North Yorkshire, Mārama follows a young Māori woman’s desperate battle to reclaim her identity in a land that does not understand her — and where something ancient, and vengeful, waits in the dark.
It’s a world of spectral whispers, buried pain, and cultural reclamation, where the veil between the living and the dead is perilously thin. As Mārama unfolds, audiences are drawn into an emotional and terrifying descent through grief, memory, and spiritual awakening.
“MĀRAMA is my Māori gothic love letter to our whenua, our tīpuna, and the stories that dwell in the shadows,” says Stappard. “To bring it home to Aotearoa, to the very land where it was born, makes this journey all the more meaningful.”
Leading the charge is breakout Māori actor Ariāna Osborne (Tangata Pai, Madam), delivering what’s already being hailed as a mesmerising, career-defining performance. She’s joined by Toby Stephens (Black Sails, Die Another Day), whose trademark intensity brings a sharp edge to the film’s gothic tension.
With its lush cinematography, haunting soundscape, and deeply spiritual storytelling, Mārama stands as both a love letter and a reckoning — a confrontation with the ghosts of the past and the pull of the land itself.
Stappard’s film doesn’t just invite you to watch, it dares you to step into the dark, to feel the heartbeat of Aotearoa beneath your feet, and to listen to the whispers of what’s been forgotten.
Get ready, horror fans, Mārama isn’t just another ghost story. It’s a spiritual haunting that promises to leave audiences breathless when it descends upon New Zealand cinemas on February 12, 2026.
Image: Vendetta Films
