Directed by Nathalie Boltt and adapted from the novel by Joy Cowley, Holy Days is positioning itself as your granny’s feel-good movie of the year. It’s a broad and syrupy comedy-drama from New Zealand that tells the story of Brian (Elijah Tamati), an indigenous boy who’s been struggling after his mother passed away. His father Joe (Craig Hall), and stepmother Liz (director/screenwriter Nathalie Boltt), send him to the local convent to perform chores as penance after he routinely plays up, but the punishment turns into a much needed retreat as Brian forges a bond with Sister Agnes (Judy Davis), Sister Luke (Miriam Margolyes), and Sister Mary Clare (Jacki Weaver), the three eccentric and elderly nuns who live there. Their friendship comes under threat when Brian learns that the local diocese plans to close the rundown convent and put the aged nuns out to pasture, as the land is prime for redevelopment. Determined to save their home, the sisters head off across country to find the deeds to the property, and with Brian proving indispensable he’s coming along for the ride.
Whilst audiences on the festival circuit have found Boltt’s film to be heartfelt and feel-good, the truth is that the depiction of colonial catholicism as a force for good which helps a Māori boy reconnect with his homeland can be viewed as old fashioned, risible and tone deaf in some quarters. What could rescue Holy Days from such criticism are the performances of our trio of eccentric sisters, and in this respect Boltt initially seems to score a coup. The film chooses a safe, cosy, and formulaic stereotype from the Sister Act/Call the Midwife school of nun representation, but the route the script takes doesn’t really offer our leads much to do beyond the obvious. As the trio’s crotchety leader, Davis adopts a full-throated Irish brogue while Weaver plays the meek one, and Margolyes (having previously donned the wimple for Call the Midwife), plays the dotty, farting one.
Despite the flaws, Holy Days does have its merits, and much of that stems from the cast
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This predictability also extends to the film’s comedy, which is pitched for the most obvious laughs, and we’re not just talking about Margolyes’ trademark breaking wind as there are also scenes involving her dentures falling out – presumably to signify she’s old and decrepit. The age of Sister Agnes is also played for laughs with her refusal to wear the correct prescription glasses, leading to her wearing Sister Mary Clare’s glasses over her own while driving. Alongside her chain-smoking, when out in the “real world” Sister Agnes uses her irascible nature, her role, and the good faith others have towards the church to the trio’s advantage. The film seems almost eager to show the holy doing things others may view as unbecoming of their position, and there’s a somewhat inevitable dancing sequence as the nuns get jiggy to Tami Neilson’s Are You Sure. The weaselly Father Findlay (Jonny Brugh), is a chronic gambler with a winning horse called “Golden Showers”, who makes his contempt at sharing a parish with the nuns plain, but in one scene he falls over for no other reason than to symbolise his ineffectuality in the face of the fearsome trio. More comedy is mined from Brian’s naïve malapropisms (e.g. “You did a sin! You should be prostituted!”), though I’d argue that the biggest laugh is the unintentional one you may have at the sight of his very obvious wig.
Although some pleasure may have been found in the road trip structure, Boltt shows her inexperience as a filmmaker by only making perfunctory use of the beautiful scenery of New Zealand. Getting the protagonists on the road also feels artificial so it’s hard to truly invest in the journey, and I found myself just ticking off the narrative points – like counting off pitstops on a similarly long car ride. Despite the flaws, Holy Days does have its merits, and much of that stems from the cast, with Davis, Margolyes and Weaver evoking the hurt and injustice the nuns feel at being dismissed as no longer useful, and Margolyes in particular garnering sympathy whenever the script allows her to drop the “comic relief”. It’s also difficult not to feel sorry for Brian’s loss and appreciate why he misbehaves, but it’s hard to see how awful his new familial circumstances actually are, especially when they give permission for him to go off across country with three ancient nuns without batting an eyelid.
HOLY DAYS ARRIVES IN UK & IRISH CINEMAS AUGUST 14
MARK’S ARCHIVE – HOLY DAYS
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