Out of the Blue

Out of the Blue (2006) — watch online on iFILM. Director Robert Sarkies reconstructed the Aramoana shootings of 13–14 November 1990, when a lone gunman with a semi-automatic rifle held a small New Zealand coastal town hostage for twenty-four hours. Karl Urban and Tandi Wright lead the cast.

Thirteen people died. One was a police officer. The local constables — few in number, lightly equipped, no rapid-response backup — had to go in first anyway. Residents hid, not knowing where he was or whether their neighbour next door was still alive. Sarkies strips the film down to almost no score, no slow-motion, no redemptive coda. The real event read like it couldn't happen in New Zealand. The film makes sure you don't forget that it did.

Watch Out of the Blue (2006) online on iFILM.