COMING SOON
Caterpillar
Set in a leaky Wellington villa in 2003, this moving drama follows three generations of women as dementia, artistic ambition and teenage restlessness upend their fragile equilibrium, forcing grandmother, mother and daughter to renegotiate love, responsibility and the courage to let one another grow and change.
Director
Chelsie Preston Crayford (Underbelly: Razor)
CAST
Marta Dusseldorp • Lisa Harrow • Anais Shand • Matt Whelan • Kirimaia Noel
RATING
VA
Sex scenes, offensive language & drug use
RUNTIME
1h 37m
COUNTRY
Aotearoa/NZ
GENRE
Drama, Family
LANGUAGE
English
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BOOKINGS NOT YET AVAILABLE FOR
Caterpillar
All tickets must be prepaid online or at the counter.
Sales are subject to our cancellation policy. No phone bookings
ncp - no complimentary passes
cap - captioned for hard of hearing
WATCH TRAILER
FILM NOTES
A tender, funny and deeply felt portrait of mothers, daughters and the delicate threads that hold a family together.
Caterpillar marks the feature directing debut of acclaimed actor Chelsie Preston Crayford and draws on a rich lineage of New Zealand women’s storytelling. Set in early‑2000s Pōneke, the film centres on teenage Cassie, her filmmaker mother Maxine and her grandmother Huia, whose quiet life of service and secret devotion to monarch caterpillars is unsettled by the first signs of dementia. Against this backdrop, Maxine’s long‑awaited break in the film industry brings its own pressures as the household falters under financial strain and shifting roles.
For audiences, this is a warm, emotionally resonant experience that balances prickly humour with genuine compassion. The performances from Marta Dusseldorp, Lisa Harrow and Anais Shand give each generation its own vivid inner life, while the recurring image of the caterpillar and butterfly migration offers a gentle metaphor for change, ageing and resilience. It’s an ideal choice for viewers drawn to character‑driven cinema, intergenerational stories and local films that recognise both the mess and beauty of family life.