Mildred, Nell Fisher is a bookish 11-year-old girl living with her mother in New Zealand, and she is deeply fascinated by the legend of the Canterbury panther. Her world tilts when a freak accident—an exploding toaster—puts her mother into a coma, thrusting Mildred into a difficult new reality where she must navigate care, fear, and a restless curiosity about the unknown.
Her magician father Strawn, Elijah Wood arrives from the United States, and Mildred is visibly upset by his long absence and unimpressed by his tricks. He agrees to take her on a camping trip, hoping to offer some sense of connection, while Mildred clings to a singular goal: to film the panther and bring back proof. The promise of a $50,000 reward hangs in the air, a sum that could help pay off her mother’s mounting debts and change their fortunes.
As the journey unfolds, Mildred finally spots the panther drinking from a stream and records the moment on her video camera, capturing a scene that could alter everything for them. Their path crosses with two hikers, Arnold and Angelina, and the encounter quickly turns tense when Arnold robs Strawn, stealing Strawn’s phone and Mildred’s camera. The tension spikes as Arnold and Angelina depart with their stolen gear, leaving the car—and the trail of trust—fractured.
The next day, Strawn and Mildred stumble upon Arnold and Angelina arguing beside a van. In a bid to regain control, Mildred steals Arnold’s bag, and she and Strawn run away. Back in Arnold’s bag, Mildred discovers her camera, but to her dismay, she learns that Arnold and Angelina have filmed over her precious panther footage, erasing the moment she had hoped would vindicate her pursuit.
The danger intensifies as the panther reappears at the edge of a treacherous chasm. The two brave souls begin crossing on a rope, but the creature claws through the rope, sending Strawn and Mildred plummeting into the darkness below. When Strawn wakes, he finds Mildred’s legs trapped under a heavy log. He crafts a bold, improvised rescue, even offering her a hallucinogenic mushroom to dull the pain before lifting the log and freeing her.
Carrying Mildred away, Strawn once again encounters Arnold and Angelina, this time beside a waiting van. In a desperate move, Strawn steals the van, placing Mildred in the back as they bolt down the road. He turns the camera toward Mildred and begins filming, but she urgently pleas him to keep his eyes on the road. In a tense moment, the panther steps into the road, forcing Strawn to swerve. The impact is crashing and chaotic, leaving them injured and clinging to consciousness.
Mildred awakens in a hospital, the room quiet beside her mother’s bed. In the aftermath, a glimmer of proof remains: Strawn had managed to capture a brief shot of the panther on his phone just before the crash. That single, hard-won moment becomes the key that enables Mildred to claim the reward she set out to earn, offering a bittersweet validation of perseverance, parenthood, and the stubborn hope that drives a child to chase legends—even when the truth slips between the lines.
