Sundance 2025 Review: Prime Minister – “Makes a world leader approachable and understandable.”
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Jacinda Ardern appears in Prime Minister by Lindsay Utz and Michelle Walshe, an official selection of the 2025 Sundance Film Festival. Courtesy of Sundance Institute | photo by Radio New Zealand
In 2017, Jacinda Ardern became the self-described ‘reluctant’ Prime Minister of New Zealand. Just weeks before an election was to be held, the leader of the Labour Party resigned amidst poor polling numbers, paving the way for Ardern to become the nation’s 40th Prime Minister. Not even 40 years old herself, and pregnant at the time, this remarkable woman served until she finally resigned in 2023. Directors Michelle Walshe and Lindsay Utz take us behind the scenes of Arden’s life as she became recognized the world over for her leadership in the documentary Prime Minister.
Only the second head of state to give birth while in office, Ardern, as well as having arguably the hardest job in the country, also found herself under scrutiny and the target of sexist commentary after announcing her pregnancy and later giving birth to her daughter, Neve. Just a couple weeks later she was back at the Beehive in New Zealand’s capital of Wellington, balancing her time in the office with her time as a new mother. For those who think it’s an impossible task, this remarkable human being will prove you wrong.
These recordings take her through the horrific 2019 mosque shootings that claimed 51 lives, a volcanic eruption and, of course 2020 and the introduction of COVID-19. “I feel sorry for myself listening to that,” Ardern says of her recording at the time. “I have no idea what’s coming.” And that was true. While initially Ardern seemed to manage the pandemic with flying colours and public support, later outbreaks and shutdowns brought violent protest and division, as it did in many countries. Though she made her decisions through science and facts, the Trump flags, encampments, and angry voices from outside her parliamentary window meant division and irrationality had suddenly reached her doorstep.
While a small, but vocal, percentage of Kiwis seemed to sour the image of this woman, one thing Prime Minister does is to solidify her legacy in some of the good she left behind. In response to the aforementioned terrorist shootings in 2019 her government quickly passed gun legislation banning assault rifles and semi-automatics leading to tens of thousands of guns being relinquished. She tackled abortion laws, making women’s health a priority. She wasn’t willing to compromise on her beliefs, and showed that when a government could work together, change truly can happen.
Prime Minister is a one-sided, glossy view of Jacinda Ardern, a bit of a puff piece, and maybe those that live in New Zealand will have a different opinion. I live in Canada and can easily say that for many here, a documentary on Justin Trudeau wouldn’t land nearly as well as it might outside our borders. Yet, those that are not her supporters aren’t likely to watch this in the first place, and those outside of New Zealand who are unfamiliar with Ardern will likely find her immense empathy and respect inspiring; her levelheadedness under pressure, refreshing. Her family life, humour, and grace, all make her immensely relatable. At the beginning of the film, she is simply a woman walking her daughter to the school bus. As much as Ardern humanizes politics, so too does this documentary make a world leader approachable and understandable.
The filmmakers commented in a pre-screening message that they hadn’t finished the film until after Trump was re-elected. Perhaps Prime Minister‘s premiere couldn’t be better timed, just days after his inauguration, as news of executive orders and radical changes become a daily occurrence in his young second term; as division continues to grow. What a contrast, to see a leader who leads with such compassion and humanity. How different the world could be. For Ardern is a person who believes optimism isn’t about being naive, it is instead courageous. And couldn’t we all use a little inspiration to be that courageous right about now.
Prime Minister had its world premiere January 24th, 2025 at the Sundance Film Festival. Its remaining in person screenings are sold out, however for those in the U.S. it is available from Jan 29-Feb 3 via the online portion of the festival. Click here for more information.
She stuffed the NZ economy and made the place way over woke. Giving money away to every body that didn’t want to earn it. I wonder if the documentary shows her days when she was in the youth socialist party greeting everybody a d her audience with the name Comrade etc