Holy Days

Holy Days is playing at Showcase Cinema de Lux in Southampton starting Wednesday 19 August. It's a New Zealand comedy from 2025, 101 minutes long, written and directed by Nathalie Boltt and based on Joy Cowley's novel.

The story is set in 1974 New Zealand and follows three nuns — Agnes, Luke and Mary Clare — who call themselves the 'last of the dinosaurs' at their ramshackle convent. They're joined on a road trip to the South Island by Brian, a mischievous 10-year-old boy, and the whole trip is about recovering the convent deeds. It's a comedy built around that odd pairing: three elderly nuns and a runaway boy on the road together.

Behind the camera, Nathalie Boltt wrote and directed it from Joy Cowley's book. The cast is a big draw for anyone who knows these faces: Judy Davis, Miriam Margolyes, and Jacki Weaver take the roles of the nuns, with Elijah Tamati playing Brian. Reviewer Sarah Lee called it a well-intentioned but old-fashioned yarn, held up by Tamati's deadpan delivery and Margolyes's showy portrayal of a nun whose dementia causes her to forget people and facts mid-sentence.

If you're planning to catch it, the showtimes run through the week: Monday at 10:10, Tuesday and Wednesday at 10:20, and Thursday at 10:15. It's a morning slot, so it's one of those you'll want to head to before the rest of your day kicks in.