Boy

In New Zealand in 1984, an eleven year old whose mother has died looks after his brother and cousins. His father comes back out of prison. The boy has built his father into a hero over years; the man is an incompetent who has come back to dig up money he buried. The film shows the gap patiently rather than cruelly; the narrative gives the boy's imagination in animation and fantasy, and reality erases them one by one. Taika Waititi wrote, directed and played the father. It was shot in Waihau Bay, where he grew up, with a largely local cast. Who it's for: those who like films that carry humour and sadness in the same scene. Who it's not for: viewers wanting a clear ending; the film neither forgives the father nor condemns him.