Directed by Nikki Si'ulepa
Same But Different: A True New Zealand Love Story follows Rachel, a single working Grey Lynn mum, who breaks a three-year spell of singledom to pursue her escalating feelings for Nikki, whom she meets at a Māori film festival.
New Zealand New Zealand 
My theory that New Zealanders should never attempt to be sexy or romantic on screen continues to be rock solid, alas; we can make Heavenly Creatures but apparently a delightful cross-cultural Sapphic rom-com is too high a bar to cross. Look, Auckland looked lovely, the supporting cast had some real stars... buuuuut the pratfalls and cringe of the leading actor was just uncomfortable, and there wasn't really any kind of chemistry, vulnerability, or sensuality. Or decent jokes. (And what NZer, even a clueless Pālagi, doesn't know how to hongi??? )
Just want to start off by saying I think it's pretty cool that a New Zealand, female couple can write, direct and produce their own film. Massive props.
Wanted to watch this one ever since I first heard about it, but it only had very limited cinema screenings and being that I was mahoosively pregnant at the time it came out, it made it a little hard to get to one of them. Luckily they just announced a couple of days ago, that you could pay to stream it here, for anyone else interested in watching it.
I want to get one of the big disappointments out of the way first. There wasn't enough of the love story. Other than…
We were lucky to have tickets to the world premiere of this film and there legit isn’t enough kind words that could be said about this film.
Firstly, the performances are amazing. A lot of the film rests on the shoulders of Robyn Patterson, and admittedly at first there’s a slight trepidation to the choices she makes for the situations her character is in. But it soon becomes apparent how intentional this all is and how it culminates in the shifts of mental states that her character goes through.
Hannah Martin also shines along side her. The chemistry between the two is rare in a lot of romantic films. The supporting cast all have some amazing moments, and honestly picking…
A multiplex-friendly, formula rom-com that happens to be about two women. The clichéd characters include Rachel’s busybody mom, her precocious eight-year-old son, and yogis with barely repressed anger.
The depiction of Rachel bugged me. She’s an entitled, casually racist, judgmental binge-drinker, and the film clearly wants us to find her endearing for the resulting antics. In her scenes with Nikki, she’s pretentious and dishonest, so it’s never clear why the grounded, ambitious Nikki thinks they’re “soulmates.”
Then there are the obligatory love-at-first-sight camera zoom and the falling-in-love montage where they walk on the beach, laughing at sunset. It only (intentionally) got me to laugh once.
It's so bad, don't watch this movie. I'm embarrassed for the real couple this is based on and I'm 99% sure they're divorced now
o sotaque... enfim, feito com amor, que é o que importa
Aquí va dos estrellas porque es una peli sobre lesbianas basada en hechos reales y con directora lesbiana pero... no la volveremos a ver. La actuación de la protagonista es irritante. Lo sentimos.
If this movie is about anything it’s about the power of flannel to make literally any woman look like a dyke!!! There’s a lot in here that’s extremely cliche (so much secondhand embarrassment on Rachel’s part...........why is she like that) but also a lot that’s cute and genuinely funny (see: Nikki’s repeated attempts to stop Fangs smoking). Watching a homegrown film directed and produced by two queer women who are In Love (!) is a pretty surreal experience
Hannah Martin if you are reading this please msg me, we can wear matching waistcoats to the movies and I’ll let you whisper the subtitles I’ll pretend I can’t read into my ear
Watched as part of QueerScreen 2020.
LOVED LOVED LOVED. The dorkiness, the humour, the family, the whiteness versus the Maoriness, just everything. Beautifully filmed too, and also included Waiheke which I’ve been to, yay! Best of all were the parts the filmmakers gave themselves, too fucken funny.
Hannah Martin has the most amazing eyebrows, I want them.
Same But Different: A True New Zealand Love Story finds Rachel (Robyn Paterson), a reluctant cougar facing down children wise beyond their years, constantly running late, and struggling with dyslexia, as she travels to a Maori film festival to escape a young man hellbent on a second date. Encouraged by her mother to explore her Maori heritage, she doesn’t expect to fall for Nikki (Hannah Martin), a Samoan filmmaker who is the hit director at the festival. Though the film drifts into cliche love story zone, the rather wacky humor and tight direction from Kiwi-Samoan director Nikki Si'ulepa, based on her love story with producer Rachel Aneta Wills, captures your attention in good old romcom fashion. With emotionally unstable yogis,…
