Movie Review: ‘Pike River’

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Review by James Lindorf

Director Robert Sarkies has operated in two modes throughout his career. First is absurdist comedy, whether it is about two friends and vehicular manslaughter or a group of friends taking over an abandoned home filled with weed. The second mode is taking on major issues in his home country, New Zealand. He first tackled mass shootings in the film “Out of the Blue,” then he moved on to women’s rights, police violence, and sexual assault in “Consent: The Louise Nicholas Story.” Now he is moving on to workers’ rights and the dangers of unchecked capitalism in “Pike River,” which will have a limited theatrical release on January 30th, the same day it is available on digital platforms at home.

On November 19th, 2010, the Pike River coal mine exploded. Spiking gas levels, additional explosions shot flames nearly a mile into the air and took the lives of 29 men in one of the worst mining disasters in New Zealand’s history. Among the victims were Anna Osborne’s (Melanie Lynskey) husband, Milton, and Sonya Rockhouse’s (Robyn Malcolm) son, Ben. As the grieving families try to hold themselves together, and what little hope they do have shifts from rescue to recovery, they begin to suspect that official sources are lying to them. While some insist on going down the proper channels and getting the best outcome they will be offered, Anna and Sonya refuse to accept no for an answer and are determined to hold someone accountable for these deaths. “Pike River” features a strong supporting cast including Madeleine McCarthy, Erroll Shand, and Lucy Lawless.

There are a lot of good things taking place in “Pike River.” One of my favorite elements is the cinematography, which balances the majesty of the unmolested New Zealand countryside with the scars left by the mine and the human tragedy. Though the film covers a lot of different locations, times of day, and years, because the court battle lasted nearly a decade, it is all well-lit and shot, enhancing the authenticity of the moments. Lynskey, Malcolm, and frankly, the entire cast are excellent. All of the performances are consistent, the line readings are well done, and if there is something about a character you do not like, the issue is more likely to be found in Fiona Samuel’s script than the performances.

It is the screenplay that brings the whole film down. Though, to be fair to Samuel, I have not read her script, so some of the issues may be down to poor editing. The film has a lot of time and significant events to cover, but it often feels rushed. Like they lived by the adage that a page equals a minute, and they needed to fit the movie under a specific running time, and instead of reworking the story, a page was pulled from the script at random until they had the proper count. While the blame for those issues can be debated, the biggest problem lies in the characterization of Anna and Sonya. Their cause is just, and you always root for justice, but it is hard to root for the women behind the cause. Their grief turns them into neglectful mothers and partners, and it is never redeemed. You feel terrible for Anna’s daughter, who effectively lost both parents in the disaster. All of her cries for Anna to come home fell on deaf ears, and it would be more understandable if she and Sonya were out front leading the charge for justice, but they primarily appear to spend most of the time wallowing and looking for the next source of help when the current one comes up short.

“Pike River” is a likable movie, but I wanted to love it. You become invested in the outcome over two hours, but it lacks the impact to get you out of your chair, fist-pumping when things go their way. Sarkies may be a very talented director. I plan to go back to “Out of the Blue” and would like to see him take on a project with a more refined script. “Pike River” is almost there, making it more frustrating than it would be if it were just an outright bad film, but as much as it may seem to deserve it, I can’t go below a score of 3 out of 5.

Genre: Drama, Mystery & Thriller
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): January 30th, 2026
Release Date (Streaming):January 30th, 2026
Runtime: 2h 11m
Director: Robert Sarkies
Producer: Vicky Pope, Timothy White
Screenwriter: Fiona Samuel
Distributor: Brainstorm Media
Production Co: Pop FIlm, Southern Light Films