The Moon is Upside Down

The Moon is Upside Down fits perfectly in the "totally weird" genre of Kiwi humour. There is stuff that makes you cringe, including men in pyjamas needlessly overexposed and women searching for period products. There are the tragic experiences of a mail-order bride and the sadness of a tenant dying alone in her apartment. However, a cluttered plot with an abundance of characters made emotional truth hard to find.

Making her directorial debut in The Moon is Upside Down, New Zealander Loren Taylor works with a well-known cast of Kiwi actors. Loren Taylor also stars as Briar, a busy anaesthetist enjoying a long-distance relationship with Tim (played by Robbie Magasiva). Faith (played by Elizabeth Hawthorne) manages apartments in inner-city Auckland. MacIntosh (played by Jemaine Clement) is a rural mechanic seeking a wife. He is supported by his sister Hilary (played by Robyn Malcolm), who is in a lesbian relationship with Tuffy (played by Rachel House).

Alongside this Kiwi cast is Greek-Australian actor Victoria Haralabidou who is superb as Natalie, a mail-order bride arriving from Russia. Several striking scenes emerge around her including her lying in a sea of spilt milk and her moonlight surveillance of the neighbour’s dairy cows.

Religion’s only visible appearance is a funeral scene. A tenant dies alone in a property recently purchased by Faith who organises a funeral. The celebrant is a woman. Her words, full of Christian theology, seem detached from reality. Her cell phone chirps and the audience of two - Faith and the tenant’s Muslim neighbour - glance awkwardly at each other. Religious ritual offers little by way of redemption.

Despite religion's portrayal as irrelevant, there are contemporary ethical issues to ponder. In 2005, the United States introduced the International Marriage Broker Regulation Act after concerns about mail-order marriages. The Moon is Upside Down illuminates the complex inner worlds of women who shift countries to marry online strangers.

The Moon is Upside Down won the Best Film award at the First Feature Competition of the 2023 Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival. So, I may be missing something. Perhaps I lost key plot points among the multiple characters. (Why introduce Briar’s family and then fade them out once Tim arrives?) Perhaps the bodily detail and steamy scenes carry emotional truth that passed me by. (But do we really need the sound of peeing in a toilet?)

Billed as a comedy, there were few laughs from those around me. As the lights came on, the looks were bewildered. Totally weird was the verdict of those around me.

Rev Dr Steve Taylor is the author of "First Expressions" (2019) and writes widely in theology and popular culture, including regularly at www.emergentkiwi.org.nz.