Head South: Movie Review

Cast: Ed Oxenbould, Stella Bennett, Márton Csókás 
Director: Jonathan Ogilvie

1979 Christchurch is the setting for director Jonathan Oglivie's amiable coming of age tale that has a rug pull finale.

Oxenbould is floppy-haired Angus, content to ride his bike around the Garden City and pass off parsley, but whose world changes when he discovers the punk sound of Public Image Ltd in a record sent over by his London-dwelling brother. (The screen literally expands from 4:3 ratio to 16:9 after Angus discovers the music).

With his mother AWOL and his father Gordon (Csókás) seemingly regressing to try and win her back, Angus tries desperately to fit in - and in a comic turn of events, claims he's in a band to impress the cool girl.

It's all very familiar territory as Angus creates his band Daleks from watching 70s TV, and the story's trajectory is riddled with coming-of-age tropes and moments - but there's something about the naivety of both the story and the acting as well as the musical cues from the time that kind of sweeps you along.

Ogilvie has a way to keep the story buzzing, and Stella Bennett aka singer Benee has a suitably scornful approach to the relationship with Oxenbould's Angus - all the elements coalesce into a genuinely enjoyable experience that has plenty of universality and a sweet nature that will undoubtedly prove to be a crowd-pleaser - albeit one with some dramatic moments that feel underutilised and unresolved.

This film is playing as part of the 2024 Whanau Marama New Zealand International Film Festival. For more details, visit nziff.co.nz