I remember hearing about this Māori gothic horror movie when it came out, so I was interested when I found Mārama (2025) on streaming recently. With plenty of spooky moments throughout, plus some blood at the end, all wrapped around a story of horrific colonization and cultural appropriation, this is a darkly relevant story for the Halloween season and beyond.
This is a psychological horror story more than a violent or scary one, although the somewhat heavy-handed music can act like jump-scares (the more subtle and evocative Māori music feels more appropriate). Writer/director Taratoa Stappard drew on stories from his Māori heritage, especially about his mother and grandmother. Other details are drawn from history like the British soldier Horatio Gordon Robley, the Musket Wars of 1806-45, and the Hinemihi o te Ao Tawhito in the U.K.
The plot focuses on an orphaned Māori woman, called Mary Stephens by the English, her Māori name is Mārama (played by Ariāna Osborne). She arrives at a Yorkshire manor in 1859, following a letter that promises information about her parents. The lord of the manor, Nathanial Cole (Toby Stephens), first asks her to be the governess for his granddaughter Anne (Evelyn Towersey), and eventually Mary/Mārama does learn all about her background, which you’ll just have to watch for yourself how that plays out.
So let’s talk about the costumes by designer Sarah Voon, who doesn’t have frock flicks in her resume but she nails the period styles. Being this director’s first feature film, the movie had a small production budget which was well used on the costumes and design. Everything fits the characters and the story and helps build this tightly wound story of creeping dread.
Mary/Mārama arrives in England wearing a dark gown with appropriate bonnet and outerwear. In fact, she’s often wrapped up in her shawl, which is a reminder that she comes from a warmer climate than cold, grey England.
That type of shawl that criss-crosses and wraps around the body is called a sontag and was popular during this period.
She wears that dark blue dress in a few scenes with different collars and undersleeves.
The most striking costume is Mary/Mārama’s red dress for the party scene. Director Taratoa Stappard described this in Phantasmag:
“As for the dress, I had written it to be red — the Māori flag has three colours: black, white, and red. Black, the male colour, relates to Ranginui, the sky father; white is Te Ao Mārama, the world of reality; and red is the feminine colour because it relates to Papatūānuku, the earth goddess. So that sumptuous red ball gown that Nathaniel Cole makes her wear at his party, when Sarah [Voon, costume designer] first showed it to me, I knew it was the one. It had the sleeves; it was voluminous — she was working with 27 meters of red Chinese silk. She also offered a great solution when I was wondering where Mārama would hide the cut throat razor. She explained that dresses had pockets until the late 1800s, and I was like, ‘If it’s historically accurate, hell yeah, let’s have a pocket.'”
The gown is a stripped-down but still extravagant (given that 27 meters of silk!) version of period styles, like this fashion plate. The example on the left has similar sleeves and neckline to the movie’s red gown:
During this scene, Mary/Mārama gets angry and performs a war-like haka a ceremonial Māori dance. In an interview with Flicks, the film’s director describes how cultural consultant Ngahuia Kopa coached Ariāna Osborne for this performance, saying, “Ngahuia … just reminded her to weaponise her dress.” It’s a powerful scene and a great example of how costume is an important part of the action.
And towards the end of the movie, she gets the dress bloody.
What angers her is earlier at the party, Nathanial and his henchman Jack Fenton (Errol Shand) fetishize and mock Māori culture, while praising Captain Cook and glorifying whale-hunting.
Nathanial wears a traditional Māori cloak, which could be made of feathers or New Zealand flax fibers, similar to these:
The director Stappard told Phantasmag that the film used authentic garments:
“With regards to the Māori clothing, or kākahu as it’s called, a lot of it was genuine. Sarah worked in consultation with Māori specialists. For example, the korowai, the cloak of feathers, was a very precious cloak on loan from a family we had connections to. It needed to be blessed when received, used with care, and then blessed again after the shoot. All of the items had to be handled with respect.”
At the end of the movie, Mārama wears the cloak more appropriately:
Have you seen Mārama?
Find this frock flick at:
