The Bach

A “Misshapen Features” FILM
WRITTEN BY MJ Gibbons

After 23 years on the force Police Sergeant Dave Barry is used to things going his way. But driving his family over the ranges towards their coastal hideaway is not easy. Dave's alienated wife, obnoxious daughter, teenage son and youngest princess all vex his high blood pressure.

Down in the bay Big Willy is keeping his nephew Manu out of mischief by taking him and his new dog on a hunt for a juicy captain cooker pig. Manu knows a shortcut into the bush up a long driveway by a bach.

The Barry family arrive at their isolated bach and when Dave's youngest daughter runs into Manu's new dog, Dave's wife screams. The panicked dog bites the daughter and Sergeant Dave's reflexes kick in. He takes down the two big armed trespassers, shoots the dog and ties them up. Dave is convinced they are home invaders.

A storm blows in and a slip on the road has made it impassable. Dave drags the hunters inside the bach. The family question his actions when he begins to interrogate the two men. Dave's teen daughter frees Manu, Dave captures him again and ties her up too.

With a howling gale pummeling the small building, his family in disarray, no cellphone coverage and Big Willy chanting in maori, Dave begins to feel more pressure than ever.

Nobody understands, he is the one that has to protect them. And above all, protect his hard earned little slice of godzone paradise, the New Zealand dream. The Bach.