July 15, 2026 7:41AM

Vale Sam Neill: 5 Must-See Films

Described as “one of the world’s best actors” by The Guardian, Neill crafted a remarkable and varied body of work over the last 50 years

By ALEXANDER BISLEY

Sam Neill passed away this week in Sydney, aged 78. It’s very sad news, especially given it’s just three months since he publicly announced he was cancer free, after a lengthy battle.

Described as “one of the world’s best actors” by The Guardian, Neill crafted a remarkable and varied body of work over the last 50 years.

Neill was born in Omagh, Northern Ireland to an English mother and a Kiwi father in the British army. He moved to New Zealand’s South Island when he was seven, and was raised there.

Not formally educated as an actor, he enjoyed studying English literature at Canterbury University and Wellington’s Victoria University, where he met the likes of John Clarke.

Once a prolific tweeter, Neill left the platform in 2023 (“too angry and divisive”). That same year he published his memoir Did I Ever Tell You This? “Just wonderful, so funny and charming and sharp…made me laugh out loud,” Meryl Streep said.

Neill was a supporter of progressive politics, and a supporter of Indigenous rights.

In honour of Neill, check out 5 of his must-see films below.

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Haere atu rā e te rangatira, moe mai rā. A mighty totara has fallen.

Cinema of Unease (1995) is Sam Neill’s personal journey through New Zealand cinema, drawing from his childhood and upbringing.

Neill toasts the country’s impressive filmmaking culture with his characteristic personability.

Highlights include his reflections on Peter Jackson’s Heavenly Creatures and Jane Campion’s An Angel at My Table. The latter “seemed miraculous…A masterpiece from our own place.”

Beautifully filmed by Alun Bollinger and scored by Don McGlashan, it’s a shame Neill never made a companion piece introducing Australian cinema.

Death in Brunswick (1990) is one of the absolute classics of Melbourne cinema, black comedy at its best.

Neill’s Carl Fitzgerald is 34 but behaves like a teenager, and still lives at his conservative mother’s. He gets a gig as a cook at a dodgy Greek nightclub, and takes up with young barmaid Sophie (Zoe Carides). Like all true romantics, they believe the world is theirs.

Instead, they get caught up in bad business between Greek and Turkish criminals.

The dearly departed John Clarke is also hilarious as Carl’s best friend Dave, a gravedigger. Clarke and Neill’s rapport and affability shines.

Neill is magnificent as Uncle Hec in Hunt for the Wilderpeople (2016), Taika Waititi’s hilarious and heartfelt adventure.

The film— the highest-grossing New Zealand film at the local box office— follows Hec and his nephew Ricky Baker on the lam across the cinematic landscapes of the central North Island.

The dialogue zings: “Trees. Birds. Rivers. Sky. / Running with my Uncle Hec / Living forever.”

Beneath Hector’s curmudgeonly exterior is heart. Has there ever been a cooler Kiwi screen uncle? Pretty majestical, aye?

Everybody knows Jurassic Park, The Piano and Peaky Blinders. With over 150 screen credits, however, Neill did a bunch of strong smaller films (and series) which are underseen.

Rob Sitch’s The Dish and Gaylene Preston’s Perfect Strangers are two salient examples. Set on the wild West Coast, Perfect Strangers (2004) is a twisted romance, deftly using under-utilised locations.

As in Neill’s Possession and Dead Calm, he is a very engaging presence.

Sam Neill’s dear friend John Clarke once gave me a memorable line about the Australian film industry’s fondness for him: “‘Can you get Sam Neill for it?’ But it’s a script about a 12-year-old girl.”

For almost 50 years, since My Brilliant Career (1979), Neill built an impressively varied and ubiquitous career through Australian cinema.

Warwick Thornton’s superb Sweet Country (2017) is a powerful western about justice. Neill portrays farmer and preacher Fred Smith. “We’re all equal in the eyes of the Lord,” Smith declares.

Powerfully acted and filmed, Sweet Country showcases Neill’s flair for period pieces. Off-screen, he was a supporter of Indigenous rights on both sides of the Tasman.

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Vale Sam Neill: 5 Must-See Films

Described as “one of the world’s best actors” by The Guardian, Neill crafted a remarkable and varied body of work over the last 50 years

Love Music?

‘Cinema of Unease’

‘Death in Brunswick’

‘Hunt for the Wilderpeople’

‘Perfect Strangers’

‘Sweet Country’

Love Music?

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