All six episodes of KUPU X will drop at 9.00AM on Wednesday 19 November.

Featuring a dynamic young cast and crew – supported by some industry veterans in front of and behind the camera – this moody, intelligent thriller blends mystery with modern digital culture.

Newcomer Harmony Day (Ngāti Whātua, Ngati Maniapoto) plays Kahu Smith – fluent, fearless, and unapologetically online.

Tāne Poutu (Ngāti Porou, Ngāpuhi, Ngāi Tai ki Tāmaki) plays Tomai Stone, Kahu’s polar opposite – quiet, grounded, and deeply connected to te taiao. Where Kahu trusts logic, Tomai follows intuition. She deals in science; he feels the wairua.

Driven by betrayal to uncover the truth about her mother’s disappearance, Kahu arrives in the eerie coastal town of Ururangi trusting no one.

She’s had enough of the lies — and in a place trading on “cosmic tourism,” she’s armed with a ring light and a mission. Through her sharp, sarcastic Get Ready With Me (GRWM) livestreams, she drops truth-bombs on the myths, mysteries, and hypocrisies the locals would rather keep buried.

As Kahu digs deeper, she finds herself confronting Jacky and Alice Whitehall – Miriama Smith and Claire Chitham – the self-proclaimed saviours of the local economy. But beneath their wealth and influence lies a disturbing history of disappearances and cover-ups.

With a flood of online threats, an audience watching her every move, and a creeping sense that someone – or something – is following her, Kahu must face the hardest truth of all: in Ururangi, those who dig too deep don’t come back.

Funded by Te Māngai Pāho and NZ On Air, KUPU X was produced by Nicola Smith (Jack Media) and directed by Angela Cudd.  The six 15 minute episodes were written by Andrea Kahukiwa, Kirk Torrance and Caitlyn Fremaux.

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