Cousins

Cousins is a 2021 New Zealand film directed by Ainsley Gardiner and Briar Grace-Smith. It is an adaptation of the 1992 novel of the same name by Patricia Grace. Plot The film is told through flashbacks spread across Mata's childhood and current life. At a young age, Mata is sent by her Pākehā (European) father to the Mercy Home for Desolate Children. There, she is renamed May Parker and grows up ignorant of her Māori culture, language, and family. When a Māori staff member at the Mercy Home recognises Mata as a member of the Pairama clan, Mata is allowed to spend the summer with her "grandparents." Following a train journey to Rotorua, she meets to her Aunt Gloria and cousins Missy and Makareta, who expose her to her Māori culture and heritage. Mata also learns that her Māori mother did not abandon her as her father had claimed but that he had taken her from her mother. Mata is shocked to learn that her grieving mother had died the previous year, still longing to see her lost daughter.