01 / The story

The man beneath the myth.

The world measured Jonah in tries, metres and broken tackles. The film listens for something quieter: where he came from, what he carried and who stood beside him.

Jonah Lomu wearing a cap during an interview
Archive / 06 — The person behind the public image.
This concept's framing question“What happens when the body everyone believes is unstoppable has always known its own limits?”
Young Pasifika men preparing for a cultural performance
01 · Roots

South Auckland.
Tongan roots.

Before international stadiums came family, culture, church and the collective responsibility of belonging to something larger than one person.

Young Jonah Lomu in a striped Wesley College blazer
02 · Becoming

The student before the star.

Wesley College gave a gifted, restless teenager a field large enough to redirect his force. One year after school, he became the youngest test All Black.

Jonah Lomu sprinting with the ball for the All Blacks
03 · Force

Everyone knew the silhouette.

The 1995 World Cup made Jonah rugby's first truly global superstar. His pace and power changed not only how the game was played, but who could imagine belonging in it.

Jonah Lomu surrounded by press microphones
04 · Pressure

A private man in public view.

Fame arrived faster than any system prepared to support it. The film stays with the tension between adoration, obligation and the instinct to keep parts of yourself unseen.

Jonah Lomu in an All Blacks suit and headphones
05 · Vulnerability

The fight behind the force.

Jonah played while living with nephrotic syndrome. Strength and vulnerability were never opposites; they existed in the same body, at the same time.

NextSeven turning points

Official trailer · 02:13

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