Moana (2026)
The ocean chose her for a reason.
Director: Thomas Kail · Writers: Jared Bush, Dana Ledoux Miller
Teenage Moana answers the Ocean's call and, for the first time, voyages beyond the reef of her island of Motunui with infamous demigod Maui on an unforgettable journey to restore prosperity to her people.
Where to watch
Apple TV Store
Fandango At Home
Amazon Video
Apple TV Store
Fandango At Home
Trailer
Director
Thomas Kail
Cast
Catherine Lagaʻaia
Moana 
Dwayne Johnson
Maui 
Rena Owen
Gramma Tala 
John Tui
Chief Tui 
Frankie Adams
Sina 
Jemaine Clement
Tamatoa (voice) 
Emma Puahi-Shapazian
Moana (4 years old) 
Amaya Masoli
Moana (8 years old) 
Sam Puefua
Village Fisherman 
Sione Milford
Coconut Farmer 
Kapeneta Te'o-Tafiti
Coconut Farmer 
Eric Scanlan
Tulafale User Reviews (3)
Check out my full review @ https://www.manuelsbento.com/moana-2026-stranded-on-a-soundstage-of-pure-nostalgia/ Rating: C MOANA had every chance to expand on its animated predecessor, and it wastes almost all of it. Beat for beat identical to the 2016 original, this remake trades vibrant, sun-drenched color for green screen sterility, turning musical numbers that once felt joyously alive into stiff, mechanical spectacle. The lead performance brings real warmth to the title role, and the central chemistry has its moments, but neither is enough to disguise a film that never once asks why it needed to exist.
On a gorgeous Polynesian island where they all...speak...very...slowly, the young "Moana" (Catherine Laga'aia) is conflicted by her father's (John Tui) warning never to venture beyond the reef that protects their home and her grandmother (Rena Owen) who is embedded more in the tribe's ancestral and mystical roots and who has little fear of the open ocean and what lies beyond. When their crops all start to die, she is reminded of the legend of the demi-god "Maui" (Dwayne Johnson) who took the heart-stone from the benign goddess from whom all life sprang, and so she determines to find him and his magical hook and then restore the ornate stone to this font of all goodness. Perhaps that will reverse the process that is killing everything? Ten years on from the original animation and this doesn't really add very much to a story that was always a bit cheesy and thin. Here, it's at least forty-…
She sings, he grins wide / Water swallows the whole screen / Talent wins the day #filmreviewhaiku
