There’s a belief I have about cinema that you can get away with a lot if your film looks and feels like a film. In fact, cinematography is arguably the most important component of any film imaginable. If a film looks off, feels off, no amount of inventive dialogue, creative premise or quality acting can overcome poor colour timing or ugly aesthetics.

Clearly, Michael Duignan holds a similar belief. The former Power Rangers director, turned feature debutante, pulls double duty in The Paragon as the film’s Director of Photography. The quasi-buddy comedy thriller stars Benedict Wall as Dutch Nordstrom, a low level tennis pro/ spiritually lost grifter is who is a victim of a hit and run while crossing the street. In the aftermath, Dutch loses everything: his wife, his livelihood and his life…well for six minutes at least. Post-resuscitation, Dutch meets Lyra (Florence Noble), a mysterious psychic who encourages Dutch to open his mind in search of the eponymous paragon. This paragon is a mysterious device that grants immense psychic power to whomever wields it.

Filmed for just $25,000, it’s almost impossible to believe that The Paragon is as good as it is. On its surface, the film is being sold alongside its dry, New Zealand humour popularized by artists such as Taika Waititi and Jermaine Clement. The film is, however, more than just the latest from the land next to the land down under. There’s a real heart to Dutch’s transformation from loser to enlightened loser. Wall and Noble have delightful chemistry, and while the film does have a couple of truly laugh out loud moments, there are few jokes for the sake of it. The Paragon is fun. It moves and it breathes. It feels like a real film.