Out of the Blue

In November 1990 loner David Gray (played by Matthew Sunderland) killed 13 of his neighbours in the town of Aramoana, near Dunedin. His rampage lasted 22 hours before he was gunned down by police. Out of the Blue is a dramatised reenactment of those traumatic events. Directed by Rob Sarkies and co-written with Graeme Tetley, the film did respectable box office and won most of its categories at the 2008 Qantas Film and TV Awards, including Best Film and Screenplay. Watch an excerpt, interviews and making of material above, and read here about the tragedy, and the decision to turn it into a film.

Warning: excerpt contains realistic gun violence.

It's a powerful piece of work, made more so by a fierce restraint in its delivery. Its makers have shaped a narrative from the haphazard events of that day — and a little before in scenes showing the solitary and angry Gray approaching breaking point — but without making this run to a conventional thriller timetable.

– Russell Baillie, in a five star review of Out of the Blue, The NZ Herald, 5 October 2006

Key Cast & Crew

Rob Sarkies

Director, Writer

Karl Urban

As: Nick Harvey

Dave Whitehead

Sound Design

Matthew Sunderland

As: David Gray

Tandi Wright

As: Julie Anne Bryson

Graeme Tetley

Writer