One of the cinematic highlights in the summer of 2016 has been Hunt for the Wilderpeople.  Directed by Taika Waititi (of What We Do in the Shadows), Wilderpeople follows the adventures of a kid rejected by society making his way through the New Zealand wilderness.  The movies sensibilities are good . . . great coming-of-age stuff that doesn’t feel forced or predictable, hitting all the right emotional beats while maintaining a unique voice and sense of humor.

Here’s the international trailer for the movie, which gets the tone of the movie much better than the U.S. version.

And if you want to hear a full version of the “Ricky Baker birthday song,” here’s the whole clip (no real spoilers).

The film is beautifully shot, of course.  Like Jackson’s rendition of Lord of the Rings, New Zealand almost plays its own character in the movie.  There’s even a nice LOTR bit in the movie, which didn’t make it in the international trailer, which is kind of nice.  The movie also has one of my favorite “sermon scenes.”  It’s done almost jokingly, but the story told by the priest rings true for those striving to live a life of faith.

If you can’t catch it in theaters this summer, it’s definitely a rental for a nice evening at the movies . . . at home.