HOLY DAYS: 3 STARS. “a road trip movie that’s worth the journey.”
SYNOPSIS: In “Holy Days,” a feel-good road trip flick starring Judy Davis, Miriam Margolyes and Jacki Weaver and now playing in theatres, a young boy learns about life and loss when he accompanies three nuns on a wild road trip across 1970s New Zealand.
CAST: Judy Davis, Miriam Margolyes, Elijah Tamati, Jacki Weaver. Directed by Nathalie Boltt.
REVIEW: A family friendly story of faith, support and mutual growth, “Holy Days” is a dryly humorous movie that presents big ideas about love, life and loss in a playful but heartfelt movie.
Set in 1970s New Zealand, “Holy Days” sees Brian (Elijah Tamati), a Māori boy grieving the death of his mother, befriend three elderly nuns, played by Judy Davis, Miriam Margolyes, and Jacki Weaver, at the local convent. Their company provides solace for the youngster, so when he learns that their convent is about to be shut down, he jumps at the chance to accompany the nuns on a chaotic road trip, in a “borrowed car,” to retrieve a deed that may prevent the convent from closing.
As the nuns seek out the deed to the convent, Brian is on a slightly different journey. He’s in solidarity with his car mates, but he really wants to visit Aoraki/Mount Cook, a rugged mountain so tall it appears to pierce the clouds. It’s there he hopes to spiritually connect with his late mother before she disappears forever.
A coming of age for Brian, the road trip becomes a vehicle for all to rediscover purpose and the importance of connection.
“Holy Days” is a period piece, but the film’s nostalgic gaze is tempered somewhat by themes of mortality, redemption and spirituality, and some underdeveloped notions of the importance of the church as the center of the community and the marginalization of Brian’s Māori heritage. Still, director Nathalie Boltt, who co-wrote the script with Joy Cowley, finds the right balance between humor and earnestness, approaching the heavier themes with a light touch.
She is aided by a trio of veterans who bring spark to the trio of nuns, but it is Elijah Tamati as the precocious Brian who gives the movie its heart. His sense of childlike wonder and way with a line—”Sister Agnes, you did a sin,” he says when she “borrows” a car for their trip. ”You should be prostituted.”—goes a long way to bringing real warmth to the story.
“Holy Days” is a road trip movie that’s worth the journey.
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