MARAMA — the haunting new film from New Zealand — is not easy to describe… and that’s exactly the point.
Filmmaker Taratoa Stappard calls it a “Māori Gothic ghost story.” One of its stars goes further: Jane Eyre on a bad acid trip.
What unfolds is something far more unsettling — and unforgettable.
Set in 1859, MARAMA follows a young Māori woman who journeys to England in search of her past… only to uncover a brutal truth tied to colonial violence, stolen culture, and a legacy that refuses to stay buried.
But this isn’t just a period drama. And it’s not just horror.
It’s a story of transformation, as its central character breaks free from the constraints of empire and reclaims her identity, her voice, and ultimately, her power.
At the center is a breakout performance by Ariāna Osborne — raw, physical, and fearless — anchoring a film that builds toward something both terrifying and deeply cathartic.
What makes MARAMA hit differently is that it’s personal. Stappard draws from his own Māori and English heritage to tell a story about a history that isn’t past — and the cost of finally confronting it.
It’s bold. It’s provocative. And it’s unlike anything else in the current film landscape.
We sat down with Taratoa Stappard to talk about the origins of the film, the risks he took, and why this story needed to be told now.
Listen to the conversation on INSIDE THE ARTHOUSE — starting now.
A young Māori woman, Mary Stevens, arrives in Whitby after her 73 day journey from New Zealand.
Mary is an orphan, and Thomas Boyd has summoned her with a one-way ticket and a pledge to reveal her family history. But when she reaches Thomas’s cottage, Mary discovers he has been dead for months.
Sir Nathaniel Cole is a local landowner with a vast fortune made as a South Seas whaler. He proposes to Mary that she work as governess to Anne, his eight-year-old granddaughter. Mary is trapped without prospects in an unfamiliar, hostile environment and she is obliged to accept his offer.
When Mary moves into Cole’s grand country house, she gradually discovers he is an obsessive, fetishistic collector of Māori cultural artefacts. Even worse, Cole harbours a gruesome, secret history from his years spent ‘harvesting’ the waters off New Zealand.
Living among her ancestors’ appropriated treasures, Mary finds herself washed by a cavalcade of disturbing visions and dreams. These overlap with a growing understanding that Cole has been gaslighting her all along, playing a cruel game to get her to stay with him in England.
As Mary unravels the full horrific truth of her colonial heritage, she embraces the spiritual Matakite (seer) powers inherited from her Māori female predecessors and takes on her true identity as Mārama.
In a violent, grisly climax, Mārama saves Anne and avenges the murders of her twin sister, Emilia and her mother, Hinemoana by killing the man responsible.