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An effulgent love letter to ’80s kid cinema laced with a distinctly quirky, Kiwi dryness, Ant Timpson’s heartwarming Bookworm reunites star Elijah Wood both with his Come to Daddy director and New Zealand (this time sans hobbit feet). It also gives pre-teen star Nell Fisher a breakout leading role as the precious kid to end all precocious kids.

Wood turns the quirks of his starry-eyed but hilariously inept dad into comic gold as the man does what he can to endear himself to his kid, with lots of funny business involving card decks, false thumbs, and chains of scarves. And Fisher makes an absolute meal of dialogue that would be challenging for any actor, let alone one so relatively young and untested.

When her mother is left in a coma after a tragic toaster explosion, Mildred (Fisher) is forced to reconcile with her long-absent father, Strawn Wise (Wood). A deadbeat,...

Caught between the tendrils of “Swiss Family Robinson” and the fish-out-water jokes that make “The Parent Trap” legendary, Ant Timpson’s “Bookworm” should be celebrated as an instant classic. That’s true not just for fans of the old-fashioned family adventure genre but for any cinephiles seeking a heartfelt father-daughter quest that’s drenched in sun, mystery, and fart jokes this fall.

For the visionary director’s sophomore feature, Timpson reunites his “Come to Daddy” cohorts to tremendous, even dazzling effect. The filmmaker once again collaborates with star Elijah Wood, writer Toby Harvard, and cinematographer Dan Katz — this time for a kid-friendly romp hunting a local legend through the director’s native New Zealand wilderness. You can watch the stunning trailer above, which IndieWire exclusively debuts ahead of the film’s U.S. premiere at Fantastic Fest on September 22.

Opposite newcomer Nell Fisher (soon to be seen in “Stranger Things” Season 5) as the unstoppable Mildred,...

Stars: Elijah Wood, Nell Fisher, Michael Smiley, Morgana O’Reilly | Written by Toby Harvard | Directed by Ant Timpson

Director Ant Timpson reunites with Come to Daddy screenwriter Toby Harvard, star Elijah Wood and co-star Michael Smiley for the utterly charming wilderness adventure comedy, Bookworm, set in New Zealand. Technically it’s also a creature feature, though don’t expect too much in the way of scares in that department.

Nell Fisher plays precocious 11-year-old Mildred, who has spent most of her childhood devouring books and has a prodigious vocabulary to show for it. When her single mother (Morgana O’Reilly) ends up in a coma due to a toaster-based incident, Mildred is suddenly saddled with her deadbeat dad, Strawn Wise (Wood), a failed American magician (he prefers “illusionist”), who she’s never met before.

Spying her chance, Mildred persuades her eager-to-please dad to accompany her on a camping trip into the New Zealand wilderness,...

"Can I make one thing perfectly clear? This tent is a fart-free zone. Clear?" Signature Ent. in the UK has unveiled their own official trailer for the adventure comedy from New Zealand titled Bookworm. This is releasing now in Nz & Australia this month, with a UK release set for direct-to-vod this November. It will likely also hit VOD in the US this fall but nothing has been confirmed yet. Eleven year old Mildred's world is turned upside-down when her estranged father, the washed-up magician Strawn Wise, comes to look after her and agrees to take her camping to find a mythological beast known as the Canterbury Panther. Elijah Wood stars as her eccentric absent dad who returns home to her in New Zealand, with Nell Fisher as Mildred, and a small indie cast including Morgana O’Reilly, Michael Smiley, & Vanessa Stacey. Plus the beautiful Nz wilderness as a character and the backdrop.

New Zealand’s Ant Timpson has been quietly but confidently carving out quite a niche in the genre film circuit. As a writer and producer he helped birth the ABCs Of Death project, and shepherded the likes of cult classic Turbo Kid by the Rkss team and Jason Lei Howden’s wild Deathgasm.

"Hey, stick with me, you'll be fine..." "You know where you're going, right??" Rialto Distr. in New Zealand has revealed an official trailer for a fun comedy titled Bookworm, an adventure movie from New Zealand. This will open in Nz in August, but doesn't have any other release dates internationally set anywhere else yet. Keep an eye out for it eventually anyway. Eleven year old Mildred's world is turned upside-down when her estranged father, the washed-up magician Strawn Wise, comes to look after her and agrees to take her camping to find a mythological beast known as the Canterbury Panther. Elijah Wood stars as her kooky absent dad who returns home to her in New Zealand, with Nell Fisher as Mildred, and a small indie cast including Morgana O’Reilly, Michael Smiley, & Vanessa Stacey. Plus the beautiful Nz wilderness as a character and the backdrop. It's impossible not to compare...