I’m under no illusions that any documentary with the full compliance of a political subject is going to be unbiased. When a pol lets in a camera crew to record an “intimate portrait” of their day-to-day life in office and at home, there is a certain amount of built-in persuasion. I was aware of that while I was watching Prime Minister, a behind-the-scenes look at Jacinda Ardern’s two terms as the leader of New Zealand, that I was subject to a very stealthily delivered charm offensive.
But what if the charm is real? More than that, what if the person, the politician, is too? Even in the most favorable documentaries, noticing flaws and inconsistencies in the subject is almost unavoidable. I searched with my most cynical eye for such evidence during Prime Minister’s 101-minute run time and was left wanting.
A Most Unusual Election
Ardern was an unlikely world leader. Her left-leaning Labour Party was a shambles just before the 2017 election in New Zealand. Bowing to brutal opinion polls, the party’s leader resigned just five months before Election Day, and Ardern was chosen by the party to minimize damage more than anything else. Ardern was inoffensive, likable, and a strong public speaker.
In less than half a year, she transformed her party’s chances and scored a surprise victory that took days to sort out thanks to New Zealand’s parliamentary system. In many ways, Kamala Harris’s 2024 election cycle mirrored Ardern’s, except for, most notably, the outcome. As Ardern took the reins of government, she dealt with imposter syndrome (a lifelong issue), the birth of her first child, and the scrutiny that came with raising a newborn out of wedlock with her live-in partner. I suppose I should pause for a minute here. You read that right. Ardern was an unmarried woman, “living in sin,” and raising her first child while running a nation for the first time at the age of 37.
Christchurch Shootings
As remarkable as the accomplishment might be to the eyes of anyone living in the United States, a wholly personal accomplishment would not be Ardern’s greatest feat in office. As Ardern took her place in the highest seat in her country, she soon learned that the quote by John Lennon, “Life is what happens when you’re busy making other plans,” applied to politicians most of all. Armed with the desire to broaden abortion rights, raise the minimum wage, and make the first year of college free in New Zealand (of those three prongs, only the latter was not achieved), Ardern’s policy goals were thrown at least partially off track by two events: a mass shooting and COVID-19.
The mass shootings took place at the Christchurch Mosque in March 2019. An astonishing 51 Muslim worshippers were murdered by a single white nationalist terrorist armed with six AR-15s and other weapons of war. In the brutal aftermath of the murders, Ardern aggressively sought new gun control measures that were passed into law, making weapons of war impermissible in New Zealand. Let me pause, once again. Ardern got enough votes to pass gun safety legislation after 51 Muslims were murdered. The United States couldn’t budge gun laws an inch after 20 white kindergartners were murdered at Sandy Hook. It’s an extraordinary accomplishment. Yet somehow, leadership would get even tougher.
COVID
In the early stages of the coronavirus pandemic, Ardern received great praise for quickly shutting down the government and all but eradicating the illness in New Zealand, which led to an earlier-than-expected reopening of the country. Then came the variants. As Ardern shut the country down for a second time, the response of New Zealanders took a turn. Much like in the United States, fatigue set in amongst the population. Well-intentioned and even good governance was met with angry and sometimes violent protests, an anti-VAXX movement took hold, and Ardern received credible death threats.
With her popularity swooning after winning a rousing re-election in 2020, Ardern made a most unusual choice before running for what would have been her third term: she walked away. She did so despite having a solid chance to win, but knowing her party would likely lose seats even if she prevailed. Believing her name to be too toxic to benefit her policies long term, she decided to remove herself from the electoral equation in the hopes that the progress she led would survive.
Relinquishing power willingly because you put your work before your ego, and because you question whether you are still the best person for the job, is an anathema to modern politics. Yet Ardern did just that.
Along with telling the story of Ardern’s political fight, the viewer is given a very personal view of the Prime Minister. Ardern is a clear feminist, but is riddled with self-doubt. She is kind, empathetic, funny, intelligent, and courageous. She is a clear reminder that courage does not exist in the absence of fear. It exists in the face of it. However admittedly imperfect Ardern may have been, she was a leader who led with heart, mind, and humor.
Decency
Early in the film, during the portion dealing with the mosque shootings, Ardern is shown reading a letter aloud from the mother of a child who was murdered in the shootings. The plaintive nature of the letter brings Ardern to tears as the mother expresses her gratitude for her Prime Minister’s firm and kind response. The mother also apologizes for the pain she and her fellow Muslims have brought to New Zealand by merely existing within the country. It is heartbreaking. As is Ardern’s response. She notes how odd it feels to be thanked for giving those in need a humane response. “It should be a basic expectation,” Ardern all but wails.
As the documentary pressed on, I could not get that moment out of my head. Days later, I still can’t. As I considered that brief portion of the film, I came to grips with why I was so moved. It wasn’t just the bracing honesty of the moment; it was something far simpler than that. It was decency. I had forgotten what it had looked like in an elected official, and I had to swallow hard thinking of how opposite Ardern is from nearly every other current world leader seems to be.
I am not an optimist, but I admire those who are, as long as it’s real. Ardern was and is real. And maybe, just maybe, if someone like her could exist once in my lifetime, perhaps they could again. Hopefully, in a place far north of the “bottom of the world.”
Prime Minister is available to stream now on HBO
