sYNOPSIS

At a roadside motel in middle of nowhere New Zealand, we enter a world where time stands still, people never leave and nothing is what it seems. We stumble upon this hidden town with Pip, a young woman lost for direction but yearning to go somewhere, anywhere. Tired from driving and with nowhere to be, she checks into a roadside dive, Ka Pai Motel, for a few days respite. More like low rent housing than an actual inn, Pip soon meets a colourful cast of characters who call Ka Pai Motel home. Amidst these drifters and hippies, bikers and worn-down old couples, there is Hunter. Like Pip, he is searching for somewhere new. He is striking – confident, commanding and ambitious, but sweet and he tells her exactly what she wants to hear. They fall for each other instantly, begin to make plans and her few nights at Ka Pai Motel soon becomes a prolonged stay. Pip finds solace within this eccentric forgotten community. She finds romance and a future with Hunter. But most of all, she is distracted from herself.

Unbeknownst to Pip, the delicate romantic fantasy she is living is poised to break as Hunter’s dark past catches up with him. Hunter sees Pip as a way out of his mess, she is an opportunity that he takes. Even as Hunter’s true feelings for Pip emerge and grow, and he becomes conflicted, he suppresses his guilt and chooses to protect himself. As the days turn into weeks, and the novelty of new wears off, Pip begins to feel something is not right. The other Ka Pai Motel residents have become distant, Hunter is often away and increasingly controlling. Shifting from a romance to a thriller, we journey with Pip as she uncovers Hunter’s dark and twisted secrets. But Pip’s realisation comes too late, by the time she confronts Hunter he is already paying for his past mistakes. Pip saves Hunter, but only enough to save herself. She finds the strength she has been missing and becomes her own hero. With scars and battle wounds she leaves Ka Pai Motel and Hunter to his own demise.