The Wind & the Reckoning

This is a true story of real Hawaii in 1893 when the Queen and Kingdom of Hawaii was overthrown by businessmen. A beautiful story told in the wife's poetry! A family on the run from a Goverment quarantine during a Leprosy pandemic.

I think this is the first film to ever be shot in the whole native Hawaiian language "Olelo Hawaii". It's beautiful.

What I love about this film is that it shows the love, sacrifice, and fight of a family to not be separated by this disease, while still trying to not hate its oppressor. A lot of life lessons to take from this beautiful bio-pic.

Mahalo to all the film makers for telling a Hawaiian story that isn't Hollywoods version of Hawaii.

Such a powerful story told with so much love and respect for the Hawaiian culture. Beautifully cinematic. I was so moved by the family and their refusal to sacrifice their togetherness, even in the face of being hunted down like prey. A heart wrenching and eye-opening look at a period of history that I knew very little about, but that had reshaped the course of life for native Hawaiians: when lepers were rounded up and forcibly removed to leper colonies on the island of Moloka'i. I love that the characters spoke in Hawaiian-beautiful authenticity and an invitation for us to experience their culture and their heart. Would definitely recommend watching it-but with tissues!

I really enjoyed watching this movie not only because I am a fan of western styled movies but because it bring to light a story and history rarely discussed. Being able to peek into the deep complex history of Hawai'i was a very pleasant experience, especially told from the side of faith and prosperity. I can only imagine what those native Hawaiians must have faced and experienced during those times. Seeing how the leper community was treated brought tears to my heart. Knowing they were lied to, exploited, and killed for something they had no control over was horrific. The ending was a bit cheesy but I really loved the journey this film took me on. I will definitely be watching it again and with my kids!

I watched this film at Hawaii International Film Festival and I was blown away, not only from the movie itself, but with the amazing cast and crew that dedicated so much time to this project and made this on a limited budget. The storytelling was authentic, the cinematography was stunning, and the delivery from the actors performing the poetic 'Olelo Hawai'i (aka Native Hawaiian language. IMDB cannot display the okina and kahako....) was one of the most authentic portrayals of Hawaiian history I have ever seen in cinema. This is based on the true memoir written by Pi'ilani, and some quotes were directly from her storytelling. The world needs to know what really happened to Hawai'i in the 19th century after the overthrow of the Hawaiian government.

Based on one of the most interesting stories in Hawaiian history! It's portrayed so beautifully and I love that it's spoken in 'olelo Hawaii (the Hawaiian language). Don't be afraid of the subtitles 🤙

I've read Ko'olau's wife Pi'ilani's book and I thought the heart of it was brought to life so honestly and vividly by the filmmakers.

My 8 and 11 year old kids enjoyed the film too; it wasn't too scary for them and they related to the boy in the story.

I live on Kaua'i, so I can tell it was not filmed in the actual locations; aside from establishing shots. What would have made it better for me would be to have seen the actual places where the events took place. Kalalau beach and valley is majestic in real life (though I'm sure it looks different now than it did in Ko'olau's time) and but also so very remote and protected I'm sure it would be nearly impossible to film out there with full cast & crew.

The filmmakers did a great job with the essence of the story and telling it in a way that can make Hawaii proud.