Holy Days (2026) review

Brian Collins (Elijah Tamati), a petulant little kid, lashes out at his biological father Joe (Craig Hall) and his new love interest Liz (Boltt) because he's upset over the passing of his mother, and spends his time at the local convent with Sisters Agnes (Judy Davis), Mary Clare (Jacki Weaver), Luke (Miriam Margolyes), but when they find out the Church is planning on closing down their residence, they drive across New Zealand to locate the deed and hopefully save it.  Normally, the "road trip" framework allows for all sorts of clever mishaps and whatnot except this, Boltt's directorial debut (which is based on the book by Joy Cowley), is an insufferable slog with its absence of good jokes (it mostly mocks Sister Luke for being clumsy and larger-sized) and the way it's desperate for empathy, going so far as to have Brian getting lost in a snow storm and having a vision of his late mom ... and then killing off one of the nuns right at the finale.  What's most pitiful is how it completely wastes the talent of three major actresses: if you can't make something meaningful with them, you need to reassess your game plan.