Marama

This grim debut from Talatoa Stapard transports us to the bleak moors of North Yorkshire in 1859, where the long, twisted shadow of the British Empire looms large. Mary Stevens (Ariana Osborne), a young Māori teacher from Aotearoa (New Zealand), arrives seeking the truth about her family, only to find that the person who summoned her is dead and there is no way home. Stranded in this strange and unforgiving land, Mary accepts a position at Hawksworth Estate, owned by the seemingly benevolent Sir Nathaniel Cole (Toby Stephens), a wealthy landowner who made his fortune whaling in the South Seas. Yet within the estate's cold stone walls—where stolen Māori treasures line the shelves and ancestral whispers echo through dim corridors—Mary's unease soon turns to dread. Haunted by visions and memories that are not her own, she begins to uncover a horrifying truth. As the sinister nature of Cole's intentions becomes clear, 'Marama' spirals into a bloody reckoning, unapologetically embracing its macabre essence. What begins as a search for identity becomes a fight for freedom, dignity, and spiritual survival.