In the landscape of international cinema, New Zealand has carved out a distinct niche for storytelling that walks a careful edge between impassive comedy and gut-wrenching emotional honesty in Sophie Henderson and Curtis Vowell’s latest feature, Workmates (2025).
A raw, chaotic, and deeply affectionate love letter to the rinky-dink theatre scene, the film is evidence of the messy reality of making art at the (literal) bottom of the world and the all-too-familiar ache of complicated love.
The setting of the film, a crumbling, underfunded venue in Auckland called the Crystal Ballroom, will feel instantly recognizable. It is just like every drafty black-box theatre in a given city’s art district or old town. But the core of Workmates is specific and autobiographical. The film is drawn directly from Henderson’s real-life experience running Auckland’s legendary Basement Theatre, a foundational hub for emerging artists that thrives on the sheer willpower of its community. This aesthetic permeates throughout the film’s duration and has its audience passionately rooting for the underdog.
Workmates marks the third feature collaboration for Henderson and Vowell, and it serves as a natural synthesis of their previous work. Their debut, Fantail (2013), was a gritty, sombre drama about identity and cultural displacement, while their follow-up, Baby Done (2020), was a brighter, punchy comedy about the anxieties of parenthood.
Workmates sits comfortably between these two genres, taking on a bipolar theme and injecting it with manic, high-energy pacing. The result is a film that possesses the scrappy charm of a workplace rom-com but carries the emotional weight of a serious drama. The duo’s signature interest in messy protagonists (characters who are flawed, stubborn, and deeply human) also makes an unsurprising but intriguing appearance. Viewers are constantly confronted with the characters’ multifaceted interactions, adding to the realistic feel of the film.
Henderson plays Lucy, the frantic Operations Manager of the Crystal Ballroom, while Matt Whelan stars as Tom, the theatre’s Technical Manager. The chemistry between the two coworkers is palpable but quite fragile.
The plot kicks into gear when a freak accident leaves the Crystal Ballroom facing immediate closure. If Lucy and Tom cannot fix the venue, they lose not only their theater but each other. As Lucy schemes to keep the lights on (resorting to questionable fixes like taping ice cream containers over smoke detectors to keep them from activating), Tom is privately spiraling, tied between saving the place he loves and securing a stable career for his family. This point of contention manifests as a betrayal in Lucy’s eyes.
The film’s brilliance lies in its seamless navigation of humor and heartbreak, never overwhelming the audience with its emotional shifts. The comedy is often physical and situational, reflective of real-life situations. In one standout sequence, the mounting pressure builds into a disastrous accident where the usually sensible Tom accidentally ingests a cocktail of recreational drugs, sparking a drug-induced montage of interpretive dance and free expression. It is a moment of pure, rhythmic release, a collective release of anxiety that binds the theater family together.
Henderson and Vowell expertly use these highs to make the subsequent lows hit harder. The narrative takes a sharp, sobering turn as Lucy’s desperation leads her into dangerous territory, seeking funds from a wealthy philanthropist known for his predatory behavior. The resulting encounter, where Lucy endures sexual assault for the sake of a donation, is a devastating pivot and a revelation of the sometimes very real, unsavory behavior endured by women in the theater world.
Workmates and its narrative pace work because the script grounds every comedic aspect in real character stakes. We laugh, and we mourn with the characters, as one. This evokes a sense of emotional concern as the audience realizes that for Lucy and Tom, the starving artist lifestyle isn’t just a quirk but a vulnerable reality.
Ultimately, Workmates is a tribute to the places that make us the people we are today. The film captures the unique camaraderie of those who work in the shadows of the stage, blurring the lines between the film’s fiction and the reality it documents. It is raw, hilarious and devastating to the same degree.
You can rent Workmates on JustWatchTV or AppleTV for $6.99.
