Thomas Munro, a newly arrived preacher in a colonial town in early 19th century New Zealand, finds himself at the center of a long standing battle between two Māori tribes. THE CONVERT is a historical epic exploring questions of faith, transformation, and the nature of violence. A visceral cinema-going experience, ambitious in scope and action, the film is also one of the most authentic and exciting depictions of pre-colonial Aotearoa New Zealand and Māori culture ever portrayed on screen.

For in-depth thoughts on The Convert, please see my colleague Jaylan Salah’s review from its original theatrical release here.

Video Quality

The Convert comes to Blu-Ray with a lovely AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 2.39:1. The transfer shines with an impressive level of detail in even the subtlest aspects of the environments and rustic production design. The hues that saturate the frame are lush and vibrant thanks to the foliage on display. Black levels are largely great with only a couple of instances of crush spotted. Skin tones are natural throughout with plenty of character in close-up shots. The picture is primarily clear with only brief downturns during a few darker scenes. Overall, this is a great transfer from Magnolia Home Entertainment that represents things well.

Audio Quality

The film arrives on Blu-Ray with a top-notch DTS-HD 5.1 Master Audio track. The movie provides a notable flood of environmental sounds that yield an immersive atmosphere for the story. Surround channels achieve robust activity due to so much of the movie taking place outdoors. The low end of the track is not a major factor throughout most of the story, but it digs deep when the plot calls for it. The dialogue and sound effects are capably balanced with the score where nothing gets overshadowed in the track. This track is quite a force and will be appreciated by audiences who pick up this disc. Optional English SDH subtitles are provided.

Special Features

The Making of The Convert: A pretty solid 18-minute featurette in which the cast and creative team delve into the production of the film, the motivations behind the narrative, weaving in history into the story, the attempt to achieve authenticity, and more.

Final Thoughts

The Convert has many things going for it that make it a promising proposition for viewers, but it never quite achieves the potential of its individual pieces. Guy Pearce is getting raves for his other buzzy 2024 role, but one should not take for granted the great work he is putting in here. He is by far the most successful facet of this endeavor. We are less impressed by the script, especially some dated tropes that we should be beyond at this point. There are some really cool moments in this one, yet it struggles to piece together just right. Magnolia Home Entertainment has delivered a great A/V presentation and a fine special feature. If the premise appeals to you or you like the performers, it is worth a look to see where you fall.

The Convert is currently available to purchase on Blu-Ray and DVD.

Note: Images presented in this review are not reflective of the image quality of the Blu-Ray.

Disclaimer: Magnolia Home Entertainment has supplied a copy of this disc free of charge for review purposes. All opinions in this review are the honest reactions of the author.