Newshub can reveal the early draft script of the They Are Us film is a Hollywood rewrite of New Zealand history.
It's an alternative version of what happened after the March 15 terror attack, told with an American slant, that shows the Prime Minister in her sleepwear and erases another politician altogether.
We've decided to reveal parts of the draft They Are Us script - which we have heavily censored - to give the New Zealand public a sense of the project and how our politicians are portrayed.
Winston Peters read the parts of the script relevant to him and says they're "total nonsense", while Simon Bridges labels it "misleading" and "offensive".
Jacinda Ardern is described as a "slender figure". On the night following the March 15 terror attacks, Ardern is seen getting out of bed "dressed in her slip". She then looks out of the window, "breaks down" and "sobs alone".
Lawyer Linda Clark, one of New Zealand's most experienced and respected political commentators, says the portrayal of Ardern is "emotional, objectifying and pretty sexist".
We asked her to independently assess excerpts from 10 pages of the draft script, featuring the political reaction to March 15.
"Clearly the script is based on real events, but it's not real and it's not realistic," Clark said.
"It's written as if an American wrote it, for an American audience, with no understanding of how New Zealand looks at these issues and how our politicians behave."
As Newshub revealed earlier this week, the opening of They Are Us is set to be a graphic reconstruction of the attack on two Christchurch mosques that has outraged many of the families of March 15.
Following the depiction of the atrocity itself, the draft script leaked to Newshub then centres around a political drama with Ardern introducing stronger firearm restrictions in the following week.
She is painted as politically strong, taking on opponents with lines like: "We have to draw the line somewhere. This is my line."
However, she also appears to need the reassurance of then-Deputy Prime Minister Peters and her partner Clarke Gayford.
Following the terror attack, Peters is depicted as "gently" holding Ardern "by the shoulder".
"Has there ever been a day like today?" she asks.
He ponders the notion and in Te Reo Māori replies: "He kotuku reranga tahi," which is subtitled as "the white heron only flies once".
"Consoling people or sharing grief is common in politics, but [that scene] is totally and utterly false," Peters said after reading parts of the script.
"Hollywood has had some great movies based on history, but sadly this won't be one of them."
Peters is also depicted as having a moment of realisation about some of his historical comments, with the script making references to the phrase "Asian invasion" and things he's said about "Muslim immigrants".
The draft They Are Us script has him ponder with another MP: "If something I said in the past inspired the gunman in any way..."
"This is far too serious an issue for some cheap Hollywood script to try and make some money out of. I suggest they withdraw from the scene if they don't intend to be honest here," said Peters.
Bridges, who was Leader of the Opposition at the time, is described in the script as looking "conservative" with a "very electable haircut".
He's portrayed as deeply opposed to Ardern's firearm law reforms, and at one point delivers the line: "Come for our guns, you might get bullets."
In another scene, he points to an assault rifle and says: "If one of those worshippers had one of these they could have stopped this tragedy in seconds."
In reality, Bridges actually supported the law change.
"This scripting is entirely inaccurate and offensive. We immediately supported the ban," Bridges told Newshub about the draft They Are Us script.
"This is a misleading and dishonest Americanisation of what happened in our country."
David Seymour is one New Zealand political leader who has been left out of the draft script entirely.
In his place is a fictional character 'Solomon Marsh', a devout Christian who confronts Jacinda Ardern for wearing a hijab.
He's the leader of a made-up party called the Independent Party and is Ardern's arch-nemesis on gun law changes, often regurgitating arguments commonly made by the powerful NRA lobby of the United States.
"Well the whole movie sounds like a shoddy opportunistic affair that nobody would want to feature in," said Seymour.
"In the role of far-right, Christian military man I probably come up short. The urban liberal concerned about due process and the rule of law probably doesn't fit the American gun debate narrative."
They Are Us is set to mix fact with fiction, noting that "By a vote of 119-1, weapons of war were abolished."
Those numbers are correct - but the one vote against was David Seymour, not 'Solomon Marsh'.
He was against the law change for totally different reasons than the movie infers the fictional character was.
In real life, Seymour didn't like that it was being passed under urgency.
The film has been written by New Zealand-born Andrew Niccol, who is also set to direct it. But Linda Clark says what she's seen doesn't reflect how New Zealand politics works.
"They're writing a version of New Zealand history - but they're writing it with an American sensibility," she said.
Newshub has issued questions to Niccol's agent, but we are yet to receive a response.
