new zealand films

New Zealand director Christine Jeffs returns to home soil for her medical drama A Mistake starring Elizabeth Banks as Liz Taylor, a skilled surgeon in a city hospital whose life and career are thrown into a downward spiral after a mistake is made in a surgery opens her up to unwarranted professional scrutiny. A Mistake isn’t helped by the fact much of the story is nonsense. A published list of surgeons’ mortality rates for “rankings” that anyone can have access to is a fantasy. A surgeon who had witnesses proving she did nothing wrong wouldn’t be suspended. Investigations need strong evidence of negligence before they are considered let alone undertaken. And, unless the hospital in which Liz works has approximately twelve patients or fewer, little else could account for the near silence of the environment.

How do you respond to your mistake? Do you make excuses? Do you find a scapegoat? Do you take responsibility? These reactions are at the heart of A Mistake. Based on a novel by Carl Shuker, A Mistake is a universal story set in Auckland, New Zealand. Elizabeth Banks plays Elizabeth “Liz” Taylor, an unglamorous but supremely gifted surgeon who makes life-and-death decisions daily. Liz exudes strength and confidence, and she provides a calm presence for her team during her surgeries. When her patient dies, Liz’s worldview is shaken and she finds her life spiraling out of control.