The Mountain

You can be my sherpa. Carry all my things, make it to the top first, and get no credit.

– Sam (Elizabeth Atkinson) gives Mallory (Reuben Francis) a job

Tēnā kōrua, ko Bronco toku ingoa, I'm a guardian of Papatūānuku — our OG mother, she puts up with a lot.

– Bronco (Terence Daniel) introduces himself

I am Sam, I'm a Māori. I just have to prove that I belong to you...and maybe you'd wanna keep me around.

– Sam (Elizabeth Atkinson) asks her tupuna to help her

When you're Māori, your mountain is your ancestor.

– Sam (Elizabeth Atkinson) on her connection to Taranaki Maunga

We're gonna get you to the top and you're gonna get better.

– Mallory (Reuben Francis) assures Sam (Elizabeth Atkinson)

Everyone involved in the making of this film was led by Taranaki Maunga. The mountain was central to the story so it was an amazing gift to be able shoot the majority of our movie in Taranaki. It is only fitting that our worldwide premiere be there too.

– Director Rachel House in a Radio New Zealand interview, 18 January 2024

Rachel House doesn’t shy from the realities of cancer and how sick Sam is, but she highlights her bravery and tenacity and gives Sam with something she had not previously had – an iwi formed because Taranaki Mounga willed it. The Mountain is a delightful, magical, mystical, and melancholy film brimming with humor and tenderness.

– Film critic Nadine Whitney in a review of The Mountain, InSessionFilm, 9 September 2024