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Whale Rider

Play trailer Poster for Whale Rider PG-13 Released Jun 6, 2003 1h 41m Kids & Family Drama Play Trailer Watchlist
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91% Tomatometer 157 Reviews 88% Popcornmeter 25,000+ Ratings
Only males are allowed to ascend to chiefdom in a Maori tribe in New Zealand. This ancient custom is upset when the child selected to be the next chief dies at birth. However his twin sister, Pai (Keisha Castle-Hughes), survives. At age 12, she enlists the help of her grandmother (Vicky Haughton) and the training of her uncle (Grant Roa) to claim her birthright. But to break with convention, she'll have to do the impossible: win over her ultra-traditional grandfather (Rawiri Paratene).
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Whale Rider

Whale Rider

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Critics Consensus

An empowering and uplifting movie, with a wonderful performance by Castle-Hughes.

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Critics Reviews

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Nell Minow Common Sense Media Excellent to watch and discuss as a family. Rated: 4/5 Dec 29, 2010 Full Review Dennis Harvey Variety Newcomer Castle-Hughes' unaffected, confident turn makes it credible our heroine might retain her determination and self-worth despite serial setbacks. Jul 22, 2008 Full Review David Ansen Newsweek The filmmaker knows how to seduce an audience without making it feel had. When a movie's this likable, it would take a very tough crowd not to be pleased. Nov 1, 2007 Full Review Nadine Whitney The Curb Few coming-of-age stories blend so seamlessly indigenous identity through spiritual belief and balance the reality of a world where such belief has been devalued. Rated: A Jun 28, 2024 Full Review Joe Lipsett Hazel & Katniss & Harry & Starr Podcast A fairly standard coming of age tale that features a solid performance from Castle-Hughes. Despite being a nearly 1-to-1 adaptation, however, the film is missing the spirit (and spiritualism) of the source material. Mar 12, 2024 Full Review Matt Brunson Film Frenzy Keisha Castle-Hughes deservedly earned a Best Actress Academy Award nomination for her startling film debut. Rated: 3/4 Oct 30, 2021 Full Review Read all reviews

Audience Reviews

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Audience Member Not understanding Maori culture, it leaves me lost about what's going on plus it fails to capture my interest. NO Rated 0.5 out of 5 stars 08/26/24 Full Review Leti A I found it boring and extremely tedious. The characters weren’t at all relatable and there was basically no plot. Rated 2 out of 5 stars 05/27/24 Full Review Connor S Truly effective movies often show you a side of the world you had no idea existed and make you feel like it's been a part of you your entire life. This checks that box emphatically. Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars 05/05/24 Full Review Honest D One of the greatest movies of all time. Rated 5 out of 5 stars 08/31/24 Full Review Henry I absolutely hated this movie. Slow-mo was abysmal, the story is horrible and this is so boring the plot doesn't even make sense never watching again. I would rather kiss my cousin than watch. This is the worst movie on the face of the earth. If Elon Musk gave me all his money I would not watch this. I would've hung myself if I was the main character. When she is on the whale she looks like she was high on cocaine. The worst hour and a half I've ever been through. Rated 0.5 out of 5 stars 02/13/24 Full Review Zac C The movie was okay, Not enough whales for me. The overall concept of sexism is really important for the audience to take on board. As a New Zealander this is the best of the best with scenery and storytelling. The writing in this is better than all of the Comedy shows on channel 2 at 9 pm combined. It's unfortunate that time flies. Two decades on the story is still important but it really is not that interesting anymore. Maybe if they included super hero's it would be more important for today's teenagers Rated 3 out of 5 stars 05/05/23 Full Review Read all reviews
Whale Rider

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Cast & Crew

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Movie Info

Synopsis Only males are allowed to ascend to chiefdom in a Maori tribe in New Zealand. This ancient custom is upset when the child selected to be the next chief dies at birth. However his twin sister, Pai (Keisha Castle-Hughes), survives. At age 12, she enlists the help of her grandmother (Vicky Haughton) and the training of her uncle (Grant Roa) to claim her birthright. But to break with convention, she'll have to do the impossible: win over her ultra-traditional grandfather (Rawiri Paratene).
Director
Niki Caro
Producer
John Barnett, Frank Hübner, Tim Sanders
Distributor
Newmarket Film Group
Production Co
ApolloMedia, South Pacific Pictures, Pandora
Rating
PG-13 (Momentary Drug Reference|Brief Language)
Genre
Kids & Family, Drama
Original Language
English
Release Date (Theaters)
Jun 6, 2003, Original
Release Date (Streaming)
Dec 31, 2016
Box Office (Gross USA)
$20.8M
Runtime
1h 41m
Sound Mix
Dolby Stereo, Dolby Digital, Dolby A, Surround, Dolby SR
Aspect Ratio
Scope (2.35:1)
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