The Convert

The Convert is a 2023 film directed by Lee Tamahori, and starring Guy Pearce and Te Kohe Tuhaka. The script is by Shane Danielsen and Tamahori, from a story by Michael Bennett, and produced by Jump Film & Television and Brouhaha Entertainment

It premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival on 7 September 2023. The film was released in New Zealand cinemas on 14 March 2024.

Premise
A lay preacher, Thomas Munro, at a British settlement in New Zealand called Epworth gets caught in a bloody war between Māori tribes in the 1830s.

Cast

 * Guy Pearce as Thomas Munro
 * Te Kohe Tuhaka
 * Tioreore Ngatai-Melbourne as Rangimai
 * Antonio Te Maioha as Maianui
 * Jacqueline McKenzie as Charlotte
 * Lawrence Makoare as Akatarewa
 * Dean O'Gorman as Kedgley
 * Madeleine McCarthy as Bethany
 * Duane Wichman-Evans Jr.

Production
A joint-production between New Zealand’s Jump Film & Television and Brouhaha Entertainment from Australia, producers on the project are Robin Scholes, Te Kohe Tuhaka, Andrew Mason and Troy Lum. The project has Bradford Haami as executive producer, with Ngamaru Raerino on board as a Māori cultural consultant. The film was directed by Lee Tamahori.

Mister Smith Entertainment took the film for global sales at the 2022 Cannes Film Festival.

Key cast members included Temuera Morrison, Guy Pearce as Monro and Tiaoreore Ngatai-Melbourne as Rangimai.

Funding came from the New Zealand Film Commission and the New Zealand Premium Production Fund with principal photography starting in the North Island in September 2022. Filming locations included West Auckland beaches, Studio West, and other locations around the Auckland and Northland regions. with principal photography finishing by November 2022.

Release
The Convert premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival on 7 September 2023. The film was released in cinemas across in New Zealand on 14 March 2024.

Reception
The Post's Graeme Tuckett gave The Convert a mixed review, awarding film three and a half out of five stars. While Tuckett praised the film's screenplay, cinematography and the performances of the cast members, he described the middle part of the story as "muddled and unnecessary."

The Spinoff Tommy de Silva gave a sympathetic review, praising the film for its acting, well-choreographed fight scenes, integration of the Māori language and authentic depiction of 1830s New Zealand society. He criticised some minor historical inaccuracies around the depictions of Wharenui (Māori communal meeting houses) and its stereotypical depictions of Māori characters as violent, vengeful cannibals and Pakeha characters as "greedy, money-obsessed and power-hungry."