1859. When a young Māori woman is summoned from New Zealand to North Yorkshire, she uncovers the horrific truth of her colonial heritage—and must destroy the titled Englishman who has devastated her family.

A Gothic Vision Forged From Blood and History

Drawing deeply from his own cultural and personal lineage, Stappard fuses intimate storytelling with the heightened pleasures of gothic romance and horror. Mārama is thick with dread, desire, and revelation, reworking the traditions of Brontëan moors and candlelit corridors through a distinctly New Zealand lens. Identity and culture sit at the film’s core, as does the lingering, malignant presence of colonial violence, an inheritance that refuses to stay buried.

The result is a film that writhes with contradiction: beauty and brutality, restraint and extremity, intimacy and spectacle. Stappard’s direction is fearless, pushing the narrative into shocking, often transgressive territory, while carving out a space that feels entirely its own within the landscape of Aotearoa cinema.

A Journey Into the Moors, and the Self

Best experienced with minimal foreknowledge, Mārama follows Mary Stevens, a young woman drawn from Aotearoa to the wild, unforgiving Yorkshire moors. Taken in by the wealthy and enigmatic Sir Nathaniel Cole, Mary is soon installed as governess within his imposing estate. But hospitality quickly curdles into menace.

As waking nightmares bleed into reality, Mary begins to sense that Cole’s generosity masks something far more sinister. What unfolds is both a psychological descent and an awakening, one that forces Mary to confront a suppressed identity and reclaim a power long denied.

Ariāna Osborne: A Star Ignites

In a commanding, fearless performance, Ariāna Osborne seizes the film and refuses to let go. Initially reserved and uncertain, her Mary slowly fractures under the weight of revelation, transforming into something far more formidable. Osborne peels back each layer with precision, revealing rage, grief, and mana in equal measure.

A defining moment; Osborne clad in blood-red, delivering a haka of searing intensity, lands with bone-deep power. It is electrifying, confrontational, and unforgettable. From this point, the duality of Mary and Mārama drives the film into its most haunted terrain. Osborne is a revelation, delivering a performance of striking complexity and ferocity.

Colonial Power as Gothic Horror

Opposite her, Toby Stephens brings a chilling gravitas to Sir Nathaniel Cole. A man of wealth, status, and imperial entitlement, Cole initially presents as polished and paternal, but this civility is a carefully maintained illusion. Stephens excels in weaponising charm, crafting a portrait of colonial power that is as seductive as it is monstrous. You never quite know what he’s capable of, and that unpredictability fuels the film’s dread.

Mania, Menace and Unchecked Excess

Special mention must go to Errol Shand as Jack Fenton, Cole’s volatile confidant and resident agent of chaos. Feral, obscene, and gloriously unhinged, Shand’s performance is a blast of pure extremity. He knows where the bodies are buried—and delights in reminding us.

A Feast for the Senses

Visually, Mārama is ravishing. Cinematographer Gin Loane drenches the film in moody shadows and painterly compositions, while Nick Williams’s production design transforms the estate into a decadent mausoleum of colonial excess. Sarah Voon’s sumptuous costuming completes the illusion, grounding the film firmly in its period while heightening its operatic flair.

One sequence reigns supreme: Cole’s grotesque birthday feast—a darkly gaudy, baroque spectacle that spirals into madness and excess. It’s a showstopper, and one of the most audacious set-pieces in recent New Zealand cinema.

Final Verdict: A Dark Jewel of New Zealand Cinema

Mārama burns with purpose, anger, and artistry. It is a film unafraid to use genre as a weapon—to interrogate history, reclaim identity, and confront the ghosts of colonialism head-on. For audiences seeking something bold, unsettling, and fiercely original, this is essential viewing. A gothic reckoning, rendered in blood and shadow.

Image: Vendetta Films

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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

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