Compelling story of a Maori man with mental illness who helps young people find an alternative to street violence thru chess. Highly recommend. Kristi & Abby Tabby

Maybe a few too many "F" words for my taste. But most of them might have been true to life. A bit hard to follow at first, but got better, and did turn out in the end to be inspiring, especially since it was based on a true story.

a season in Hell, appalling, but with superb acting

Super film! Put me in mind of Kevin Costner's McFarland, USA. That was, of course, about Latino lads shepherded into champion distance runners in Southern California. Now, Cliff Curtis's Dark Horse is about Maori youngsters already experimenting with chess but Coach leads them into perfection. The varied ages as well as both lads and lassies make it more interesting for me. My daughter, the school teacher, opined "Too much swearing!" I replied "Am guessing most of the dialogue was improvised." Still, I find it interesting that the cultures of two countries so far apart in distance are so similar. Kudos to EPL for having this film of which many of us have probably never heard. I discovered it through the APTN which does a remarkable job of telecasting films that our national networks ignore.

Good movie based on a real life story. Genesis who is a Maori man dealing with mental health issues decides to volunteer to teach Maori youth chess. It is a bit bittersweet because people shun Gen for is illness and he has to learn to cope with his personal and social issues while also having to deal with others issues such as his brother who is involved with a gang and expects his son to follow him. Genesis was a chess prodigy and he wants to share his love of the game with the kids and hopefully take them to the New Zealand junior chess championship. His nephew joins the chess club but is supposed to be initiated into his father’s gang on the same day as the chess championship. Great performances by the actors and a rather grisly look into one aspect of Maori life. Subtitles are provided when Maori is spoken but you might want to turn on the closed captioning—I had a little difficulty understanding the Maori gangsters.

Amazing performance by Cliff Curtis (“Whale Rider”) as Genesis, a champion chess player who's been derailed by mental illness, homelessness, and the stresses of being an uneducated minority (Maori) in a mostly indifferent white New Zealand culture. His gang leader brother, Ariki, reluctantly lets him live at his house where he's surrounded by drugs, violence, and pressure to accept a miserable life (his brother curtly tells him to go on the dole). However, his own optimism, unquenchable love for chess, and growing affection for his at-risk nephew leads him to train an unlikely group of street kids for New Zealand's junior chess championship. The still-intact Maori culture provides them moral strength. This underdog team story has been told before through swim, track, and basketball (see, respectively, “Pride”; “McFarland, USA”; and “Hoosiers”) but the main character here has far larger obstacles to overcome. Note: occasional Maori with English subtitles.

Another great movie from New Zealand. I love that its a true story. It's great to see heart felt movies about overcoming the challenges of poverty and mental illness. Watch this.

I really didn't think I would enjoy this movie as much as I did. Heartwarming. The power of family, the impact of mental illness on the individual and their family, the importance of mentoring youth and a big cry at the end. Loved it!!!

March 5 2017.....It looks like I returned this on Dec 5 2016, but did not make a comment.....I know I enjoyed it!, and will maybe have to watch it again sometime.

This is a great movie that very few people have heard about.