NZIFF 2025 Craccum Coverage | Prime Minister

“This is a story about New Zealand just as much as it’s about me,” Jacinda Ardern said before the documentary began. The next two hours proved her exactly right.

Prime Minister tackles the near-impossible task of capturing five years of political leadership, including a global pandemic, in just two hours. And yet, it succeeds– not just by offering glimpses behind press conferences and parliamentary speeches, but by showing us the partner, the mother, and the human being behind the title.

Watching it at the Civic with 2,400 others, I sensed we all left a little more introspective– reflecting on who we are as a nation and how much we ask of those in power. The footage, much of it filmed by Clarke Gayford himself, offers touching and often hilarious domestic moments with their daughter Neve. These scenes are a poignant counterpoint to the pressures of political leadership, capturing both immense  joy and relentless strain. There’s raw emotions on display– moments of acute exhaustion, honest frustration, and profound grace under pressure. Ardern’s wit and warmth shine through, but so does the cost of carrying a nation through one crisis after another. 

I had reservations about one particular clip in the documentary; when a protester rallying for indigenous sovereignty was depicted amongst political extremists occupying Parliament, then protesting against the Covid-19 vaccine mandate. I considered this directorial choice very misleading and overall unnecessary, considering it risked misrepresenting Māori rights interest groups and falsely reducing them to conspiratorial anti-vaxxers. Optics are important to scrutinise, as well as directorial intent or a lack thereof, precisely because of the incisive political subject matter at hand.

Nonetheless, the film holds up a mirror to Aotearoa, tracing its recent history through the eyes of someone who tried to serve it with care. The closing shots– of sweeping natural landscapes and family life– serve as timely reminders of how lucky we are to be alive, despite it all. Whether or not you supported Ardern politically, Prime Minister invites you to laugh, cry, and reflect on what it means to lead with kindness– a sentiment that will always lead you back home.