''Two Little Boys'' is a 2012 New Zealand feature film based on the 2008 novel of the same name by

Duncan Sarkies Duncan Sarkies is a New Zealand screenwriter, playwright, novelist, stand-up comic and short story writer. Sarkies grew up in the South Island city of Dunedin and is the brother of Robert Sarkies a New Zealand film director who is also a scrip ...

. It stars

Bret McKenzie Bret Peter Tarrant McKenzie (born 29 June 1976) is a New Zealand musician, comedian, music supervisor, and actor. He is best known as one half of musical comedy duo Flight of the Conchords along with Jemaine Clement. In the 2000s, the duo's c ...

and

Hamish Blake Hamish Donald Blake (born 11 December 1981) is an Australian comedian, television and radio presenter, actor and author. Since 2003, he has worked with Andy Lee as part of the comedy duo Hamish and Andy. The pair have performed live and on te ...

in the two title roles, and is directed by

Robert Sarkies Robert Sarkies (born 6 March 1967) is a New Zealand film director and screenwriter. Sarkies grew up in the South Island city of Dunedin. He attended Kaikorai Valley College. His three feature films to date have been set in Dunedin, or in the lowe ...

. Duncan Sarkies served as a script writer, adapting his own novel.

Synopsis

Nige (

) and Deano (

) are two childhood friends who live in

Invercargill Invercargill ( , mi, Waihōpai is the southernmost and westernmost city in New Zealand, and one of the southernmost cities in the world. It is the commercial centre of the Southland region. The city lies in the heart of the wide expanse of t ...

in the South Island of

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

. However, estrangement has since resulted, because Nige has stopped flatting with Deano over concerns about Nige's self-perceived emotional dependence on his friend, and moved in with a third friend, Gav (Maaka Pohatu). However, Nige inadvertently runs over and kills a person from

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and the ...

engaging in

backpacker tourism Backpacking is a form of low-cost, independent travel, which often includes staying in inexpensive lodgings and carrying all necessary possessions in a backpack. Once seen as a marginal form of travel undertaken only through necessity, it has b ...

with his unreliable

Ford Laser The Ford Laser is a compact car, originally a subcompact car in the first three generations, which was sold by Ford in Asia, Oceania, and parts of South America and Africa. It has generally been available as a sedan or hatchback, although con ...

, and enlists the assistance of Deano to conceal the body, although not without reservations from Deano due to his ' abandonment' issues after Nige terminated their earlier flatting cohabitation. The film also deals with the consequently bungled and incompetent police investigation into the comedy of errors that produced this chain of events, with humorous consequences.

Release

It premiered at the Berlin film festival in February 2012. It was initially due to open in New Zealand on 15 March 2012, but that date was later pushed back to later in the year. ''Two Little Boys'' was in New Zealand cinemas by 20 September, following the New Zealand premiere held in

on 11 September.

Production

Filming started in 2010 in the

Southland District Southland District is a territorial authority district in New Zealand that covers the south of the South Island as well as Stewart Island/Rakiura. History Southland District was formed through the 1989 local government reforms. Four local author ...

, New Zealand and concluded in 2011. The first trailer was released in early 2012 showing the original release date before the change.

Car

The yellow car that Nige (Bret) drives when he ran over a backpacker (Filip) is a 1982 Ford Laser which is on display at The Movie and TV Museum in Waipu, New Zealand.

References

External links

* New Zealand drama films Films shot in New Zealand 2012 films Films based on New Zealand novels Films set in New Zealand Invercargill in fiction 2010s English-language films {{NewZealand-film-stub