A quietly powerful and dignified performance from Cliff Curtis is the heart of Tearepa Kahi’s New Zealand action-thriller Muru: a film that’s in no way quiet or subtle, and not intended to be. Curtis plays Taffy Tāwharau, the kind of cop who is, as they say, one of the good guys, filling in as a school bus driver and standing up to racist and misinformed colleagues.
Taffy is torn between different worlds and laws: his Māori heritage and remote Te Urewera community on one hand, and on the other, the uniform and badge to which he’s sworn allegiance. Australian film-makers have explored similar tensions recently in productions including True Colours and Mystery Road.
