Ata Pūao
2025 · 14m · New Zealand
Directed by Allie Howell
Genres: coming-of-age, drama, LGBTQ+
Tones: contemplative, tender
A young tāhine's 21st birthday night out tests old friendships and leads her to a chosen whānau in the city.
Picked by Zoe
The scouts
It's a tender Māori coming-of-age that could've been treacly in anyone else's hands, but Howell resists the sentimental trap—there's real bite under the gentleness, a refusal to make the chosen whānau feel like a neat redemption arc.
A formally restrained portrait of generational belonging that understands the weight of ritual (the 21st) without leaning on it; the editing breathes space into moments of connection, situing itself deliberately within the lineage of intimate ensemble coming-of-age cinema.
Howell's decision to ground the entire night in the specific texture of how these friends actually move around each other—the unsaid tensions, the small gestures of loyalty—transforms what could be a generic milestone into something that feels earned and lived.