Synopsis
One-time Maori speed-chess champ, Genesis Potini, lives with a bi-polar disorder and must overcome prejudice and violence in the battle to save his struggling chess club, his family and ultimately, himself.
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Cast
- Cliff CurtisGenesis
- James RollestonMana
- Kirk TorranceNoble
- Sia TrokenheimNurse
- Andrew GraingerClive
- Xavier HoranJedi
- Roseanne LiangNurse
- Miriama McDowellSandy
- Rachel HouseVagrant Woman
- Wayne HapiAriki
Recommendations
- 90
The Hollywood Reporter
The Dark Horse is an emotionally potent story of redemption anchored by a heart-piercing lead performance from Cliff Curtis. - 90
Variety
The Dark Horse is as good a title as any for a film that takes an overplayed genre — the inspirational mentor story — and still manages to surprise, sneaking up to deliver a powerful emotional experience within a formula we all know by heart - 80
Empire
The heartfelt telling of a truly extraordinary true story with a mesmerising central performance. - 80
Time Out London
It’s a film with the texture and truth of life, and at its heart is a beautiful performance by Cliff Curtis, who never in a million years will be nominated for an Oscar, but deserves one. - 80
CineVue
The deft and highly emotive handling of his condition and the wider ramifications of his story make The Dark Horse a lot more than merely the against-the-odds chess story that it may initially appear to be. - 75
Slant Magazine
Despite the occasional cliché, this film mostly feels as messy as life, and as movingly complicated. - 70
Village Voice
James Napier Robertson's film combines several potentially tired subgenres — the inspirational-teacher drama, the mental illness drama, and the gang thriller — but, helped immeasurably by Curtis's performance, makes something new out of them. - 67
The A.V. Club
The Dark Horse may not entirely work as a film, but it has an unexpected amount of gritty idiosyncrasy on its side.
