Lee Tamahori's feature film debut offers a cross-section of abuses, making it a searing portrait of self-destructive behaviors, toxic codependency, and gut-wrenching tragedy.

| Original Score: 3.5/4 | Feb 26, 2022

One of the finest films ever made on New Zealand soil has lost none of its raw emotional power and unbearable psychological intensity.

| Original Score: 5/5 | Apr 23, 2020

Once Were Warriors has more to say than the traditional 온라인카지노추천-movie about spousal abuse. But some viewers will have to pay a price: This is a movie that requires strength and fortitude to sit through.

| Original Score: 3.5/4 | Feb 21, 2017

Once Were Warriors is a savage and dismaying tale of a venerable culture in decay and a film difficult to recommend.

| Feb 21, 2017

Mamaengaroa Kerr-Bell, who plays Grace, had never acted before, and neither have a couple of the other key players. But under the careful direction of television veteran Lee Tamahori, they all do credible and forceful work.

| Original Score: 3.5/4 | Feb 21, 2017

It's a fine, fierce and nearly unforgettable movie.

| Original Score: 3/4 | Feb 21, 2017

A gritty, powerful first feature by Lee Tamahori.

| Feb 21, 2017

There's little new here, but uniformly powerful performances (especially Owen's) give the tale unexpected power and depth.

| Original Score: 3/5 | Feb 21, 2017

Tamahori's direction is consistently sharp and the film showcases two immensely powerful performances by Morrison and Owen.

| Feb 21, 2017

The howling raging energy of the prize-winning New Zealand film Once Were Warriors rushes at you, hits you like a smack in the face.

| Original Score: 3/4 | Feb 21, 2017

The film isn't, ultimately, quite able to reach the heights attained by its star...

| Original Score: 3/4 | Mar 31, 2016

The violence in Once Were Warriors (Fine Line, R), a tumultuous domestic drama from New Zealand, erupts with terrifying suddenness.

| Original Score: B+ | Sep 7, 2011

The barren lives of members of an urban Maori family are rigorously exposed in this rugged and painful picture, based on Alan Duff's novel.

Full Review | Jul 22, 2008

The urban Maori milieu, however, is something we haven't seen before, and the images stay with you.

| Mar 31, 2008

One of the most powerful, ultra-realistic dramas about domestic violence--As the battered wife, Rena Welson should have received a Best Actress nomination.

| Original Score: A- | Dec 23, 2006

A gritty human drama evoking the residual vibrancy of a threatened culture.

| Jan 26, 2006

Overrated and nauseating.

Full Review | Original Score: 2/5 | Nov 14, 2005

Full Review | Original Score: 5/5 | Apr 7, 2005

Full Review | Original Score: 3/5 | Mar 9, 2005

Full Review | Original Score: 4/5 | Jan 13, 2005