This chapter introduces the origin of area studies in the colonial expansion of European powers and the critique of colonial legacies shaping regional contexts. It also discusses the development and challenges of settler studies as a distinct scholarly domain, proposing the connection between area studies and settler studies. Furthermore, the chapter explores how settler colonialism shapes social relationships in contemporary New Zealand through the examination of feature films as allegories of settlement. It argues for the value of settler studies to area studies, highlighting the potential for settler case studies to enhance area studies and emphasizing the capacity of settler colonial theory to translate into different contexts.

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The chapter discusses the tension and dysfunction between the idyllic setting and characters' behavior in the film Rain, suggesting the film can be read as an allegory of settlement. It explores the concept of settlement and its relationship to New Zealand settlers, and examines the idea of a national melancholy, romanticism, and trauma experienced by Pākehā/settler New Zealanders. The chapter also explores the double structure of forgetting and trauma in the film, and how objects in the film serve as symbolic representations of the unease of settlement and attempt to fill the void of loss.

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This chapter discusses how the film "Rain" explores structures of nostalgia, fetishism, and trauma in relation to settler colonialism in New Zealand. It suggests that this allegory of settlement also offers a model for other countries, such as Australia, and that the lessons of settler studies are transportable. The film "Sweetie" by Jane Campion is also analyzed, with a focus on the dysfunctional family dynamics and themes of failed separation. The chapter highlights the shared themes and narratives of masculine subjective dominance, Oedipal structures, nostalgia for fetishized objects, and the symbolic significance of trees in both films.