Daze Synopsis
A sheltered Hawaiian prince discovers life, love and his destiny when the outside world sails into his island paradise for the first time.
Hawaiʻi, 1779. During the great Makahiki festival, twenty-year-old Prince Kamehameha—Kam—escapes the royal compound where he has been hidden since birth. An ancient prophecy proclaimed that the child born beneath Pele’s Fireball would change Hawaiʻi forever, but Kam would rather discover the world than fulfill somebody else’s myth.
He finds willing guides in irreverent surfboard-maker Wiki and his spirited twin sister Lili. Friendship quickly becomes a romantic triangle, with Kam and Wiki embracing the Hawaiian tradition of aikāne—intimate male companions—while Lili refuses to accept the restrictions imposed on women by the sacred kapu system.
Watching—and frequently interfering—are the gods Pele, Kū and Lono, who appoint nonbinary Aunty Mahu to narrate this increasingly unruly tale.
Then an astonishing object appears on the horizon: HMS Resolution, commanded by Captain James Cook. Hawaiians who have seen no outsiders for generations believe Cook may be Lono himself—helped considerably by the fact that Cook and Lono are played by the same actor.
Kam is captivated by the Captain and his stories of a vast world beyond Hawaiʻi. Their friendship opens Kam’s eyes to possibilities he never imagined, but also to the danger posed by outsiders. As celebration gives way to suspicion, Cook departs, returns after a storm, and a stolen boat ignites a confrontation that ends with his death on the shore.
The tragedy crystallizes Kam’s purpose: rather than escape Hawaiʻi, he will change it.
But first he must save Wiki and Lili from the brutal laws of their own society. A spectacular race for sanctuary culminates with Kam soaring from a giant Hawaiian kite onto Wiki’s surfboard as warriors, sharks—and the gods themselves—join the chase.
Rain finally falls on the drought-stricken island as Kam and Wiki reaffirm their bond. Aunty Mahu reveals that Kamehameha will indeed fulfill the prophecy: uniting the Hawaiian Islands and becoming one of history’s great Pacific rulers—while remaining Wiki’s aikāne for life.
The gods argue over whether Mahu got the story right.
Pele settles the matter by erupting the volcano.