The friendship between two grieving women lies at the heart of this meticulous retelling of the 2010 Pike River mining disaster in New Zealand, which killed 29 men. The film is a blow-by-blow account of the families' years-long fight for justice, told with restraint and in meticulous detail, without any feelgood emotion.
The story begins with agonising scenes before the accident: miners preparing to go underground, ribbing each other in a familiar morning routine, unaware of what is coming. After the first explosion, the company's CEO confidently says there is enough air underground to last several days, but the lies told to families were staggering.
The film centres on the friendship between Anna Osborne (Melanie Lynskey) and Sonya Rockhouse (Robyn Malcolm) as they sit through royal commissions and public inquiries, clutching photographs of their dead. Anna's husband and Sonya's 21-year-old son are among the victims; one of their goals is simply to recover the bodies from the mine.
At times, it feels hopeless, but eventually victories come from unlikely quarters, such as a family-run concrete business that refuses to supply concrete to fill the mine entrance. There is a surprise cameo at the end: a certain superstar New Zealand politician plays herself.
