Their People Once Were Warriors. But Once... Was a Long Time Ago
Overview
In a violent relationship, it takes a mother’s strength to save herself and her children from the man she loved. Once Were Warriors is a violent love story set against a contemporary urban backdrop.
Ratings
Curator score: 8.6/10
IMDb: 7.9/10
Rotten Tomatoes: 93%
Metacritic: 77
TMDB: 7.4/10
Director
Lee Tamahori
Production
Avalon Studios, New Zealand Film Commission, NZ on Air, Fish Entertainment
Cast
Rena Owen, Temuera Morrison, Mamaengaroa Kerr-Bell, Julian Arahanga, Taungaroa Emile, Rachael Morris Jr., Joseph Kairau, Cliff Curtis, Pete Smith, George Henare, Mere Boynton, Shannon Williams, Calvin Tuteao, Ray Bishop, Ian Mune, Robert Pollock, Donald V. Allen
Where to watch
Film Movement Plus
Curator Review
Verdict
A brutal, emotionally devastating family drama that confronts domestic violence, poverty, and the damage of colonial dispossession with rare force. It is not an easy watch, but its performances, urgency, and cultural specificity make it a standout.
Best for
Viewers who want uncompromising social realism
Fans of intense family dramas and abuse narratives
People interested in Māori culture and postcolonial stories
Audiences who value powerful acting and bleak emotional honesty
Skip if
You want a comforting or uplifting experience
You are sensitive to graphic domestic violence and abuse
You prefer plot-driven films with a lighter tone
You dislike bleak, confrontational dramas
Overview
Once Were Warriors is the kind of film that leaves a bruise. It takes a family in crisis and refuses to soften the blows, using violence, alcoholism, and humiliation to show how private pain is shaped by larger social forces. The result is harrowing, but never empty; every scene feels grounded in lived-in detail and moral urgency.
Worth noting
What makes it endure is the combination of cultural specificity and universal emotional force. The film is deeply rooted in Māori experience, yet its portrait of abuse, shame, and resilience speaks far beyond its setting. The performances are extraordinary, especially in the central relationship, where love and destruction are locked together in a way that feels painfully real.
Bottom line
This is not an easy recommendation, but it is an important one. The filmmaking is direct and unshowy, which only makes the devastation hit harder. If you can handle its intensity, it is one of the most memorable dramas of the 1990s.
Top Letterboxd reviews
London (5★) · 311 likes
In my opinion a must see for anyone interested in not just Polynesian culture, but the effect poverty and colonialism has on these communities. An absolutely brutal lesson in abuse and love.
The scenes no matter how awful to watch, are beautifully crafted and lovingly made. They are all well shot, and the acting, especially from the two central characters played by Temuera Morrison and Owen, are jaw dropping.
The music is beautiful and the many scenes of a group… more
Sudhakar Kumar (5★) · 197 likes
One of the finest films ever made on New Zealand soil.
It sheds light on domestic violence and volatile family dynamics in a way that most films would rather shy away from, which is one of the things that makes it both a difficult and unforgettable watch.
It deserves more love and attention because as far as these sorts of uncompromising family dramas go, it's one of the best.
liam f (4★) · 144 likes
when he calls himself Jake the Muss but he's actually Jake the Mess
Alexei Toliopoulos (4★) · 116 likes
Some of the most devastating performance work you'll ever see.
Darren Carver-Balsiger (4★) · 108 likes
Once Were Warriors is a film which really presses down on you and crushes the soul. It is an unpleasant film, though not without purpose. The film highlights dangerous, toxic lifestyles and the darkest consequences of that. The film is most obviously about domestic violence and alcoholism, depicted in a brutal way that cinema generally refuses to grapple with. These broken homes which people experience do not have Hollywood glamour.
Once Were Warriors centres on a family led by a… more
A similarly powerful New Zealand drama about female agency, family pressure, and emotional survival, with a strong sense of place and cultural tension.