Bookworm is a 2024 New Zealand adventure comedy drama film directed by Ant Timpson, based on a screenplay by Toby Harvard.

[5] The film is about a young girl named Mildred embarking on an adventure with her estranged American father Strawn Wise to seek out the mythical Canterbury panther.

It is then revealed that Strawn caught a brief shot of the panther on his phone just before the crash, allowing Mildred to claim the reward.

During an interview with Radio New Zealand, collaborator and cast member Elijah Wood said that "the genesis of Bookworm was really not stepping up in a time of crisis as a parent, and basically pooing the bed in front of your kids."

[6][8] Other supporting cast members included Michael Smiley as Jethro, Nikki Si'ulepa as Dotty, Vanessa Stacey as Angelina, Theo Shakes as Reginald and Millen Baird as Doctor.

[8] The film's producers were Emma Slade, Roxi Bull, Victoria Dabbs, Mette-Marie Kongsved and Laura Turnstall.

The website's consensus reads: "Recapturing the magic of vintage adventure yarns, Bookworm is an imaginative gem with a wholesome heart.

"[16] Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned the film a score of 64 out of 100, based on 10 critics, indicating "generally favorable" reviews.

[17] Alison Foreman of IndieWire gave Bookworm a positive review, giving the film an A minus grade.

She wrote "fearlessly specific in its comedy and just as attentive with its character arcs, this algebraic study in adventure might have a metaphoric typo or two (insert obligatory comment about CGI), but it's mostly a triumph."

She also praised the cinematographer Daniel Katz for immersing Wood and Fisher's characters in the "breathtaking" New Zealand environment.

[8] Tomris Laffly of Variety gave Bookworm a positive review, describing it as "a delightfully quirky father-daughter adventure with the perfect blend of childlike wonder and grown-up bite."