River Queen

Missed opportunities, I almost failed it, but didn't due to the setting that keeps one captivated

A film about the Maori-British wars in New Zealand in the 1860s. Something about the film evokes *The Piano*, and the cinematography is striking; the landscape is exotic and haunting. The complex narrative falls apart at the two-thirds mark, and the ending not only feels rushed: it doesn't make sense. This is a frustrating film: it's beautiful to look at, exciting in content, but the best scenes in the film make you realize that the film as a whole could have been much, much better.