Someone who has gotten the travel bug late on in life is Miriam Margolyes.

In the last decade she has appeared in a number of travelogues for the BBC, that have seen her travel all around the world, but particularly to the Southern hemisphere, enjoying Australia.

Her most recent BBC trip saw her in New Zealand, where she also found the time to star in this charming Kiwi film about a group of nuns trying to save their home.

1974, New Zealand, and young Brian (Elijah Tamati) is struggling coming to terms with not only the death of his mother, but the fact his father is now involved with another woman.

This situation frustrates him to the point where he is sinful quite a lot, and finds himself visiting the three nuns - Sister Agnes (Judy Davis), Sister Luke (Margolyes) and Sister Mary Clare (Jacki Weaver) – at their convent, where he asks for forgiveness.

It’s while there that he gets involved in a plot to kick them out, which finds him and them on a wild road trip to save the convent.

Having started her career as an actress, South African born Nathalie Boltt makes her directorial debut with an adaptation of Kiwi writer Joy Cowley’s novel.

It’s a character-rich piece, with the three nuns and young Brian, making for the odd companions on an adorable road trip. And just to add to the charm, there are a number of stop motion sections, featuring their car on its travels.

Young Tamati seems very much at home with some serious acting talent in their later years, with Margolyes clearly having a ball playing a Scottish nun, whose first words in the film are “Rumpy pumpy!”.

Perhaps the only area it lacks in is the script – which Boltt wrote; it had the scope to really push the silliness of the situation – and therefore boundaries, but perhaps as it was the director’s first feature, she didn’t have the courage needed to go all in.

Still, it’s very sweet, and very tender, especially focusing on a young boy coming to terms with the loss of his mother.

A beautifully shot period comedy, with a quirky road trip that deserves all the praise it gets.