Earlier this week, I went to the cinema to see Prime Minister, a HBO Max documentary portraying how New Zealand’s 40th Prime Minister managed terror incidents, natural disasters, and a global pandemic while caring for her infant daughter, Neve. Overall, I really enjoyed the film. I can be profoundly moved by politics and I counted getting goose bumps on at least ten occasions during the screening. Normally when I watch something political (e.g. This House) I take the opportunity to discuss its relevance to my PhD, however, as no political defections were mentioned in the documentary, I thought I’d use this article to outline some very brief thoughts I had while watching the film.

Political documentaries are a powerful format. Though I won’t claim to follow New Zealand politics too closely, I had a generally positive impression of Prime Minister Ardern from her appearances on the World Stage and her interviews on The Rest is Politics and Adam Grant’s WorkLife podcast. The documentary only affirmed those feelings and I came away even more enamoured and impressed with her as a political leader than I was before.

That said, I left the cinema reflecting on how my perceptions of Ardern were being shaped by the narrative framing. When you’re following the Prime Minister and her family so closely, they come across as deeply empathetic and human characters that are hard not to like. While covered briefly, the documentary didn’t delve too deeply into policy details and instead focused on her responses to crises, highlighting her composure and compassion rather than issues on which her governments actions were more complex or contentious. Furthermore, the film failed to highlight more reasoned opposition to her leadership, instead focusing on the resistance she faced from conspiracy theorists.

This is not intended as a criticism of the documentary. Film makers can only focus on so much and it’s perfectly valid to create a movie that focuses on a particular side of the story. Rather, it highlighted to me the importance of seeking out perspectives beyond a single narrative, especially when trying to form a rounded view of a political leader’s record.

Political leaders are frequently far more popular in other countries than they are back home. President Emanuel Macron and Prime Minister Kier Starmer and both incredibly unpopular in their respective countries but are broadly well liked and respected internationally.