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Mar 28, 2019kpelish rated this title 4 out of 5 stars
Amazing performance by Cliff Curtis (“Whale Rider”) as Genesis, a champion chess player who's been derailed by mental illness, homelessness, and the stresses of being an uneducated minority (Maori) in a mostly indifferent white New Zealand culture. His gang leader brother, Ariki, reluctantly lets him live at his house where he's surrounded by drugs, violence, and pressure to accept a miserable life (his brother curtly tells him to go on the dole). However, his own optimism, unquenchable love for chess, and growing affection for his at-risk nephew leads him to train an unlikely group of street kids for New Zealand's junior chess championship. The still-intact Maori culture provides them moral strength. This underdog team story has been told before through swim, track, and basketball (see, respectively, “Pride”; “McFarland, USA”; and “Hoosiers”) but the main character here has far larger obstacles to overcome. Note: occasional Maori with English subtitles.