Pike River Review: Stirring & Intimate Drama

Lynskey and Malcolm anchor Pike River, an account of the fight for justice that followed the Pike River Mine disaster that will tug at your heart.

For those who are unaware, in 2010, an explosion occurred at the Pike River mine in Greymouth, New Zealand and claimed the lives of 29 miners. This film focuses on the aftermath of that tragic event and the efforts of two ordinary women named Anna Osborne (Melanie Lynskey, of Yellowjackets) and Sonya Rockhouse (Robyn Malcolm, The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers) to obtain justice for these men, including Anna’s husband and Sonya’s son. 

Melanie Lynskey and Robyn Malcolm are why Pike River is so effective. When they’re apart, Lynskey and Malcolm really get to dig into the impact of this tragedy on Anna and Sonya. Their performances will break your heart because of just how raw and beautiful they are. When you’re dealing with a true story, it can be easy for actors to overact in an attempt to manufacture emotions from audiences as opposed to allowing the reality of whatever their character is facing to connect with those who are watching. The acting choices made by our leads are simple and appear as if they’re happening in the moment as opposed to because they have a script telling them what’s supposed to happen. 

Nowhere is that more evident than in Lynskey’s outbursts of frustration. Throughout Pike River, Anna serves as a beacon of strength and warmth but those moments where she lets her guard down and spits insults out with such appropriate vitriol serve as the perfect picture of Melanie Lynskey’s ability to balance everything that comes with grief. There are so many emotions at play when you lose a loved one, and Anna carries them around publicly for several years as she fights to give her husband and his fellow miners a proper burial. Lynskey gives a performance that seems to truly understand that. 

On the other side, we have Robyn Malcolm who gets lost in her character’s pain and frustration before channeling Sonya’s grief into a force for justice. It hurts to see her push away those that care for her, but this makes the bond she develops with Anna that much better. Malcolm is fantastic at putting up this hardened exterior before slowly breaking her walls down as the film goes on and Sonya finds an outlet for her pain as well as a new friend. 

Pike River can be slow because the screenplay gives audiences so much time with Anna and Sonya individually. This isn’t a bad thing, as it allows Fiona Samuel to showcase their lives and pain in a respectful way. Samuel doesn’t leave either main character out in the cold, allowing us to really get to know Anna and Sonya before their friendship and quest to set things right for those no longer with them take center stage. This story isn’t always an easy watch but Samuel and this cast ensure that you’ll leave with a new perspective no matter how much you know about the Pike River mine explosion. 

While it’s nothing new for films to dramatize or alter events when they’re brought to the screen, Pike River makes a grave mistake that I only discovered after doing a bit of research into the incident after watching. It paints the Sixth Labour Government of New Zealand in a more positive light and ultimately fails to mention that this group abandoned plans to reenter the mines and recover the bodies of the miners in 2021. I’m not going to go any further, because that’s not what this review is about, but that piece of information left a sour taste in my mouth when it came to how the ending played out. 

That dramatization is such a shame because there’s clearly an effort from everyone involved to spread word of this tragic event and let the world know how Anna Osborne and Sonya Rockhouse became pillars of strength in the aftermath. Plus you have the fact that Pike River was actually filmed in Greymouth, New Zealand where all of this happened. Robert Sarkies and Gin Loane worked together as director and cinematographer to really capture the beauty of the area. The pair also make everything we see feel intimate and lived in. You wouldn’t get the same effect if you filmed on some sound stage somewhere. This film does so much right but ultimately drops the ball in the end and nearly ruins everything. 

Pike River features amazing performances from Melanie Lynskey and Robyn Malcolm but this powerful story is nearly undone by writer Fiona Samuel’s ending. It’s absolutely worth a watch and I encourage you to do your own research into the events at the Pike River mine, because the miners and their families deserve to be remembered.

Pike River will be released in US theatres and on digital platforms on January 30, 2026.