Rain

In this assured and lyrical first feature adapted by the director from a novel by her fellow New Zealander Kirsty Gunn, a poetic rites of passage tale is given added depth by a potent awareness of landscape (notably, a shifting use of water imagery), sensual attention to detail, brooding domestic atmospherics and distinctive performances. Teenage Janey lives by the shore with her younger brother, their flirtatious drinking mother and defeated father. With little to do except party and drift, Janey is restless with unfocused yearning and gravitates towards a local boat owner and amateur photographer previously involved with her mother. Too late, she realises that all threshold experiences come at a price.