Private Project

The Moon is Upside Down

Three very different women's lives fleetingly intersect as they search for belonging in an upside down world.
Natalia (Victoria Haralabidou), a mail-order bride from Siberia, arrives in Aotearoa to discover that her dream of running a café at her new husband’s remote petrol station, is far from reality. She makes the best of her situation and gets to know her shy husband. But then she finds out Macintosh (Jemaine Clement) and his sister (Robyn Malcolm) are hiding something else from her.
Anaesthetist Briar (Loren Taylor) lives in exhausted chaos, cheered up by an online relationship with her elder sister’s ex boyfriend Tim (Robbie Magasiva). Their romantic weekend away disintegrates when Briar hits and injures a hawk in the middle of nowhere and is determined to keep it alive.
Faith (Elizabeth Hawthorne) is shocked when she discovers that a block of flats she purchased on behalf of her absent husband, included a dead tenant in its chattels. Driven by her empathy for Rita’s lonely death, Faith looks for her family, and when none can be found, is determined to find a way to honour Rita’s life.

  • Loren Carla Taylor
    Director
    Hey Brainy Man - New Zealand Film Commission short film. Winner best short at NZ International Film Festival. Apis - NZ Film Commission short film.
  • Loren Carla Taylor
    Writer
    Eagle vs Shark - co writer and lead actor
  • Philippa Campbell
    Producer
    Top of the Lake 1 and 2 - Jane Campion, Rain - Christine Jeffs
  • Georgina Conder
    Producer
    The Breaker Upperers, Free in Deed, Cousins,
  • Victoria Haralabidou
    Key Cast
    "Natalia"
    Brides, The Tourist
  • Elizabeth Hawthorne
    Key Cast
    "Faith"
    Sweet Tooth, The Chronicles of Narnia
  • Loren Taylor (previously Horsley)
    Key Cast
    "Briar"
    Eagle vs Shark, Baby Done
  • Jemaine Clement
    Key Cast
    "Macintosh"
    Avatar, What we do in the Shadows
  • Robbie Magasiva
    Key Cast
    "Tim"
    Bad Behaviour, Hawaii 5-0, Wentworth
  • Robyn Malcolm
    Key Cast
    "Hilary"
    After the Party, Top of the Lake,
  • Rachel House
    Key Cast
    "Tuffy"
    Boy, Moana, Jojo Rabbit
  • Project Type:
    Feature
  • Runtime:
    1 hour 30 minutes
  • Completion Date:
    December 1, 2022
  • Production Budget:
    1,500,000 NZD
  • Country of Origin:
    New Zealand
  • Country of Filming:
    New Zealand
  • Language:
    English
  • Shooting Format:
    Digital
  • Aspect Ratio:
    2.39:1
  • Film Color:
    Color
  • First-time Filmmaker:
    No
  • Student Project:
    No
  • Tallinn Black Nights
    Tallinn
    Estonia
    November 11, 2023
    European Premiere
    Best First Feature
  • Sydney Film Festival
    Sydney
    Australia
    June 8, 2024
    Australian
  • Santa Fe International Film Festival
    Santa Fe New Mexico
    United States
    October 17, 2024
    Special Jury Prize
Distribution Information
  • Vendetta
    Distributor
    Country: New Zealand
    Rights: Theatrical
Director Biography - Loren Carla Taylor

Loren Taylor is a director, actor and writer from Aotearoa New Zealand. Her debut feature as writer and director The Moon is Upside Down had its world premiere in competition at Estonia’s A-List festival POFF Tallinn Black Nights November 2023 where it played to sell-out houses and was awarded Best First Feature. It sold out at the Sydney International Film Festival in June 2024 and was awarded the Special Jury Award for Narrative Feature at the Santa Fe International Film Festival in October 2024. In 2025 it was one of ten films selected for The Online Film Critics Society Awards Best Non U.S. Release

Hey Brainy Man, the NZFC-funded short Loren co-directed with Jo Randerson, won NZ's Best at Te Whānau Marama NZIFF 2023.

Loren attended the Sundance Feature lab and worked with Taika Waititi on their award-winning screenplay for Eagle vs Shark. Miramax picked up the film and it was released world-wide.

Loren has a co-casting credit for What We Do in the Shadows, an additional casting credit for The Light Between Oceans and casting associate credit for Top of The Lake. She is known for her work with children, which began with casting and on-set coaching for the Oscar nominated short Two Cars One Night.

She is an advisor for and Board member of Story Camp Aotearoa and has been a guest mentor at Jane Campion’s Film Intensive A Wave in the Ocean.

Add Director Biography
Director Statement

I am attracted to work that is comic, political and poetic. I read somewhere that desperation is the origin of comedy and that resonated with me. I wanted to create a cast of characters who are trying to find a way out of their personal desperation, and it is the unexpected and unforeseen - the mysterious unfolding of events - not their attempts to control life, that brings them to a place where transformation is possible.
I tried to observe every character tenderly and intimately. I wanted to make a film from a place of kindness and empathy - honouring vulnerability, loneliness, and
fallibility - pointing to how we might find relief when we turn to face what we are avoiding. Another quote that has stayed with me that relates to this is 'Pay attention to what life is trying to reveal to you'. I love that line.
My characters are moving through a landscape that is eroding and damaged by industrial agriculture, where wilderness - like their own wild natures - has been pushed to the margins.
I see this film as an offering that is tender, poignant and funny, which touches on the inevitable suffering of life and the possibility of hope.