- Comedy, Drama
- 99 min
- PG-13
Rotten Tomatoes100%Metacritic87IMDb7.0
On an empty road in the middle of the night, Shula stumbles across the body of her uncle. As funeral proceedings begin around them, she and her cousins bring to light the buried secrets of their middle-class Zambian family.
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- Brent Marchanton TMDB · Apr 20257/10
A pertinent fact about the little-known African bird known as the guinea fowl is that they have a unique, loud call that can be heard at quite a range, not only amongst their own kind, but also among all of the other animals within earshot. That can prove quite valuable both for the members of their own flock and for all other nearby vulnerable creatures when predators approach. While that may sound like useless trivia to some, it’s a highly relevant metaphorical observation about the underlying narrative in this third feature effort from Zambian writer-director Rungano Nyoni. While driving home from a dinner party late at night on a remote rural highway, Shula (Susan Chardy) comes upon the dead body of her Uncle Fred (Roy Chisha) splayed out on the road. Somewhat surprisingly, she seems largely unaffected by what most would see as a shocking discovery. She calmly reports the incident to authorities and returns home, where she finds her relatives have begun preparing the residence for a traditional funeral gathering. Shula remains remarkably composed through all this, too, despite the many disruptions going on around her, especially incessant overblown outpourings of grief. Her rel
Read the whole review on TMDB - CinemaSerfon TMDB · Dec 20247/10
"Shula" (Susan Chardy) is returning from a fancy dress party late one evening when she encounters a corpse on the road. A quick investigation reveals the body as that of her "Uncle Fred". She doesn't appear terribly upset at the news and neither does her partying father when she calls to tell him! Her evening doesn't get any better with the arrival of her drunken cousin "Nsansa" (Elizabeth Chisela) and when the police tell her they don't have enough vehicles to come and deal with it til the morning, she has to sleep in her car. What follows now sees us immersed in some of the rituals and traditions of a Zambian funeral, with grief - real and not so real - presented in a semi-comedic mix of ancient and modern behaviour. What also become clear is that "Shula" has a reason for her indifference and that this family, indeed their whole village, has unsavoury secrets to keep. What was curious for me, given the nature of the man's behaviour, was the extent to which the men were largely oblivious and the women almost entirely defensive of his true nature. Not of his behaviour in life, but of his reputation thereafter. He was clearly no great loss, yet his sisters grieve profoundly and lay
Read the whole review on TMDB
Cast
- Susan ChardyShula
- Elizabeth ChiselaNsansa
- Esther SinginiBupe
- Blessings BhamjeeYoung Shula
- Doris NaulapwaShula's Mother
- Henry B.J. PhiriShula's Father
- Roy ChishaUncle Fred
- Benson MumbaJoseph
- Chungu BwalyaFarm Club Presenter 1
- Margaret MulubwaFarm Club Presenter 2
Crew
- Rungano NyoniDirector
- Rungano NyoniWriter
- David GallegoDirector of Photography
- Lucrecia DaltOriginal Music Composer
- Nathan NugentEditor
- Tim ColeProducer
- Andrew LoweProducer
- Ed GuineyProducer
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