Synopsis
Ordinary people find extraordinary courage in the face of madness. On 13–14 November 1990 that madness came to Aramoana, a small New Zealand seaside town, in the form of a lone gunman with a high-powered semi-automatic rifle. As he stalked his victims the terrified and confused residents were trapped for 24 hours while a handful of under-resourced and under-armed local policemen risked their lives trying to find him and save the survivors. Based on true events.
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Cast
- Karl UrbanNick Harvey
- Tandi WrightJulie-Anne Bryson
- Simon FerryGarry Holden
- Matthew SunderlandDavid Gray
- Lois LawnHelen Dickson
- Paul GloverPaul Knox
- William KircherStu Guthrie
- Georgia FabishChiquita Holden
- Fayth RasmussenStacey Percy
- Timothy BartlettJimmy Dickson
Recommendations
- 100
TV Guide Magazine
With his carefully controlled pacing and superb use of sound, Sarkies draws the viewer deep into the experience of a town caught completely off-guard by a kind of violence they could never have expected, and won't soon forget. - 75
New York Post
A taut thriller based on the tragedy, which remains the most lethal mass killing in New Zealand history. - 75
New York Daily News
As sensitive to its subject as it is stark in its rendering. - 70
Variety
Chilling, often moving docudrama focuses not so much on the mayhem or murderer, but on the bewildered, occasionally courageous reactions of ordinary citizens caught in the inexplicable violence. - 70
The New York Times
The director confronts horror without wallowing in it, a strategy befitting a film that’s not about how people die, but how they live. - 50
Village Voice
There's some nifty soft-focus cinematography and fine performances, but otherwise, not much to resonate on this side of the pond. - 50
The Hollywood Reporter
Ultimately, the film, for all its evident verisimilitude, never really demonstrates a compelling reason for being.
