Hibiscus & Ruthless

Hibiscus and Ruthless is a funny and at times emotional story of 2 girls, friends from school, growing up with very different expectations placed on them. Hibiscus is the daughter of a strict and seemingly cold Samoan mum and the granddaughter of a warmer, more motherly Samoan grandmother. Ruth (Ruthless) is the daughter of palagi divorced parents, who has lots of freedom but looks for some of Hibiscus's boundaries by spending most of her time at her house. As they enter University Hibiscus' mum gives her even stricter rules leading to Hibiscus asking Ruthless to help her stick to them but inevItably leads to her rebelling. This film is a funny but also moving story set in New Zealand through a Pacifica lens with strong female leads. A great watch.

This movie was surprising. Mid way through I thought it would end in a predictable way, but no, I was pleasantly surprised that the writer took a more believable path. I really enjoyed the movie, and would watch it again, which is always the true mark of a successful film, whether you would watch it again or not.

Hibiscus and Ruthless is a funny and at times emotional story of 2 girls, friends from school, growing up with very different expectations placed on them. Hibiscus is the daughter of a strict and seemingly cold Samoan mum and the granddaughter of a warmer, more motherly Samoan grandmother. Ruth (Ruthless) is the daughter of palagi divorced parents, who has lots of freedom but looks for some of Hibiscus's boundaries by spending most of her time at her house. As they enter University Hibiscus' mum gives her even stricter rules leading to Hibiscus asking Ruthless to help her stick to them but inevItably leads to her rebelling. This film is a funny but also moving story set in New Zealand through a Pacifica lens with strong female leads. A great watch.

This movie was surprising. Mid way through I thought it would end in a predictable way, but no, I was pleasantly surprised that the writer took a more believable path. I really enjoyed the movie, and would watch it again, which is always the true mark of a successful film, whether you would watch it again or not.

"Hibiscus & Ruthless" will be no Academy Award nominee, it's true. It understandably is full of Kiwi & Pacific Islander humor and accents, which can often be quite dry and tongue-in-cheek. Sometimes this comes over as "wooden" to Americans, though outstanding actor and director Taika Waititi is known for similar one-liners, in his still upwardly mobile distinquished career. Hibiscus, one of the main characters, her family, and most supporting characters are indigenous Pacific Islanders, and this is basically a "slice of life" story about her and a young female friend who have very different personalities, growing into young womanhood. There's the contrast between Hibicus's mother's strict traditional rules and a good and dutiful daughter who naturally just wants to have some fun, too. There's a good bit of comedy, some romance, and a few interesting scenes featuring Islander life, colorful dances and performances. I rated it a 6 for those particular elements. It's not a waste of time by any means. It's light-hearted, passably enjoyable if you're not looking for Twilight level angst and drama, superheroes or guns blazing. Spamming 1 star reviews, boosting/reducing and copy/pasting comments of "this is a dumb and forgettable" film is unfortunately widespread these days, and they should be taken with a grain of salt.

This movie was surprising. Mid way through I thought it would end in a predictable way, but no, I was pleasantly surprised that the writer took a more believable path. I really enjoyed the movie, and would watch it again, which is always the true mark of a successful film, whether you would watch it again or not.