Synopsis
The Dark Horse (2014) is a New Zealand drama based on a true story that you can watch online on iFILM. Genesis Potini was a Maori speed-chess champion who lived with bipolar disorder.
Out of a psychiatric facility, Genesis (Cliff Curtis) moves in with his brother and takes over a chess club for kids in a rough neighborhood. He teaches children from hard homes to attack with courage, the way Maori warriors once did — while trying to pull his teenage nephew out of the same gang that already claimed the boy's father. The illness recedes, then floods back over him.
Curtis gained weight for the part and plays Potini with a rawness that swept New Zealand's film awards. Director James Napier Robinson drew on a documentary about the real Genesis Potini and sugarcoats neither the poverty nor the diagnosis. It's a film for anyone drawn to stories about broken people who keep lifting others up. Stream The Dark Horse (2014) online on iFILM.
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