Robyn Malcolm...as you've never seen her

Robyn Malcolm

You'll see Robyn Malcolm as never before in new movie This Town.

She's most familiar from award-winning show Outrageous Fortune, where she played family matriarch Cheryl West with big hair, leopard prints and a whole lot of makeup.

But in Kiwi dark comedy flick This Town, there's not a splash of make-up, no glamorous hair — and she's head-to-toe in khaki.

She plays Pam, an ex-cop turned petting zoo and adventure park owner fixated on bringing down a man she suspects of having committed a heinous crime.

Despite the less-than-glamourous appearance, Malcolm says she loved the experience of filming the movie, which was shot in Hawke's Bay last summer.

"Oh My God I loved Pam. She's bonkers, completely her own woman — obsessed, bull-headed and so much fun.

"I had to challenge my own vanity, which was great. There's no lippy for miles. Will be a hilarious, bizarre ride for audiences with a fab twist and loads of heart."

Written, directed by and starring David White (MEAT), This Town also features Rima Te Wiata, (Hunt for the Wilderpeople) and Toi Whakaari graduate, Alice May Connolly.

The movie follows Sean's attempt to return to normality after being acquitted of a terrible crime. But in the small community of Thiston, he is now the most infamous person — and Pam won't let the case go, convinced he is a guilty man walking free.

Some have been quick to point out that the trailer suggests similarities with the case of David Bain who was eventually acquitted for the murders of his own family. The movie's producers, South Pacific Pictures, insist any similarities are coincidental.

"The film's concept was born from the writer's idea of what it might be like to be charged, then acquitted of a crime while living in a small town, and the challenges of living your life under the microscope of your local community."

Meanwhile, Jessica Grace Smith, who played the younger version of Malcolm's Cheryl West, this month is due to marry her fiance, fellow actor Benedict Wall.