The Moon is Upside Down

Three very different women’s lives fleetingly intersect as they search for belonging in an upside down world.

Natalia (Victoria Haralabidou), a mail-order bride from Siberia, arrives in Aotearoa to discover that her dream of running a café at her new husband’s remote petrol station, is far from reality. She makes the best of her situation and gets to know her shy husband. But then she finds out Macintosh (Jemaine Clement) and his sister (Robyn Malcolm) are hiding something else from her.

Anaesthetist Briar (Loren Taylor) lives in exhausted chaos, cheered up by an online relationship with her elder sister’s ex boyfriend Tim (Robbie Magasiva). Their romantic weekend away disintegrates when Briar hits and injures a kahu in the middle of nowhere and is determined to keep it alive.

Faith (Elizabeth Hawthorne) is shocked when she discovers that a block of flats she purchased on behalf of her absent husband, included a dead tenant in its chattels. Driven by her empathy for Rita’s lonely death, Faith looks for her family, and when none can be found, is determined to find a way to honour Rita’s life.