These days feel good, family friendly original cinematic fare seems few and far between. When I was growing up in the 90’s they seemed to populate cinema schedules from The Borrowers to The Secret Garden. So not only is Holy Days a delight, but a cinematic rarity in this day and age. While it slightly loses its direction in the second act, Holy Days is a breezy, charming movie for all ages filled with Kiwiana. 

 

Brian, a broken-hearted boy joins three older oddball nuns - Sister Agnes, Sister Luke and Sister Mary Clare on a journey to the South Island of New Zealand. Together they find the answers to their most burning questions and become a force that no one saw coming!

 

Holy Days follows young Brian Collins who is struggling to come to terms with the death of his mother and finds solace at the local, run down nunnery who must fight to save their home. The premise of the film has all the hallmarks of a Kiwi classic on our hands - an oddball group working together with all the hilarity and Kiwiness thrown in. 

 

And it lands - its sweet, poignant, and will have you teary both from the heart wrenching moments to the hilarious sequences. But it’s the second act that feels a little directionless - not quite knowing exactly what it wants to be or to say all while trying to say everything at once. That being said, Holy Days is a terrific little film that will warm the cockles of your heart on an autumn afternoon. 

 

While it slightly loses its direction in the second act, Holy Days is a breezy, charming movie for all ages filled with Kiwiana.