We Were Dangerous is a 2024 New Zealand drama film, directed by Josephine Stewart-Te Whiu, in her directorial debut, from a screenplay by Maddie Dai.
Unable to find her relative, Nellie befriends another female Māori teenager named Daisy, who has escaped several foster homes after experiencing abuse.
Following the disappearances, Nellie and Daisy seek to escape the island but unexpectedly find themselves at odds with Lou, who is seemingly afraid to break the rules.
However, Lou's apparent reformed behaviour is later revealed to be a ruse to distract the Matron while she, Nellie and Daisy plot to burn down the medical hut and gather supplies to build a raft to escape the island.
During an interview with Variety, Dai described We Were Dangerous as an escape film about teenage girls "that really championed their friendships and had a lot of joy in it, in spite of all this dark historical context.
[11] One impromptu scene involved the girls at the reformatory chanting and singing in Māori against a faded picture of Queen Elizabeth II and a sign stating "English Only."
While the scene was not part of the script, Stewart-Te Whiu decided to include it in the film since the actors were performing with high energy during a warm-up session.
[8] The film was edited by German editor Hansjörg Weißbrich, whom Stewart-Te Whiu hired "because he was not affiliated at all with the politics of our [New Zealand] filmmaking, and just stayed character-focused and story-focused.
He praised the performance of the main cast members Erana James, Nathalie Morris and Manaia Hall as well as the executive producer Taika Waititi and director Josephine Stewart-Te Whiu.
[10] Cinefied's review praised Maddie Dai's screenplay for weaving a story of teenage girlhood friendship with the themes of indigenous peoples resisting colonisation and Christianisation.
She praised Dai and Stewart-Te Whiu for balancing the film's grim reform school setting with a fun, uplifting and joyous "coming of age" caper story.
She praised the performances of the lead trio James, Morris and Hall while crediting Rima Te Wiata for bringing "glimmers of humanity and doubt" to the antagonistic Matron.
[3] James Croot of The Press gave the film a positive review, describing it as a "Kiwi cross between The Magdalene Sisters and The Shawshank Redemption."
Croot praised Stewart-Te Whiu's directorship and Dai's historical research into institutional care and eugenics when developing the script.
[19] Tom Peters of the World Socialist Web Site gave the film a more negative review, criticizing the "jarringly upbeat and optimistic ending" and the "simplistic" story of female solidarity.
He described the film as a "missed opportunity" because it "shies away from depicting the extent of the brutality that occurred in such facilities and the lifelong trauma inflicted on the young people.