Holy Days (2026) is a whimsical “nuns-on-the-run” road movie from New Zealand. Directed by Nathalie Boltt and based on the novel by Dame Joy Cowley, it blends “Blues Brothers” energy with a poignant story about grief and spiritual connection.
Set in 1974 Aotearoa (New Zealand), the story centers on Brian, a 10-year-old Māori boy struggling with the death of his mother and his father’s plan to remarry. Brian finds a “chosen family” in three eccentric, elderly nuns living in a dilapidated convent:
When Brian discovers that an unscrupulous Bishop and a developer plan to sell the convent, he and the sisters “borrow” the local priest’s station wagon. They embark on a high-stakes road trip to the South Island to find a former nun-turned-lawyer who holds the property deed. For Brian, the trip is also a spiritual quest: he believes he can reach his mother at the snowy peak of Aoraki before she fully departs for the spirit world.
New Zealand | 2026 | 1h 41m
Directed by Nat Boltt
Starring Judy Davis, Miriam Margolyes, Jacki Weaver
Beer and Wine available at our concessions
“In that great Kiwi tradition, humour and tragedy are perfectly balanced, never straying too far in one direction or the other. It is a tightrope walk which seems effortless in the hands of this film’s cast and crew.”
— David Adams, FilmSpeak
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