Marama – TRAILER

Landing in our inbox is the trailer for Marama and bit by bit it builds up a sense of impending dread and looks to be a a favourite for horror fans

Trapped without prospects in an unfamiliar, hostile environment Mary is obliged to accept work as a governess for Sir Nathaniel Cole (Toby Stephens), a local landowner with a vast fortune made as a South Seas whaler. But when Mary moves into Cole’s grand country house, she gradually discovers he is an obsessive, fetishistic collector of Māori cultural artefacts and she begins to uncover the full, horrific truth of her colonial heritage.

Written and directed by Taratoa Stappard; and starring Ariāna Osborne, Toby Stephens (Die Another Day, Black Sails), Erroll Shand (Evil Dead Burn), Umi Myers (Bob Marley: One Love) and introducing Evelyn Towersey.

Writer-director Taratoa Stappard initially conceived the screenplay as a period drama about colonization and cultural appropriation, but his research into the colonial history of Aotearoa New Zealand redirected the project toward what he termed Maori gothic horror. Stappard identified the turning point as a Victorian-era photograph of collector Horatio Gordon Robley, a British Army officer and self-styled authority on Maori tattooing, seated in his parlor before a wall displaying 29 preserved tattooed heads (toi moko). Although the director originally planned to shoot in England, available financing led to the 2025 horror feature being filmed entirely in New Zealand.