• A strong debut from Mati Diop.  The film is grounded at the beginning in realism. There are long takes of Souleiman (just holding on his face riding in a truck) finding out they are getting stiffed for construction work done on a luxury tower project. It feels like it’s going to be a love story between Souleiman and Ada (a superb Mame Bineta Sane) as she’s being forced into an arranged marriage of sorts with a rich man
  • The film splits though and turns a story with magical realism combined with sort of a half police procedural. There are pupil-less women seeking revenge of the men who died (ultimately as a result of the greedy developer of the tower project), beds and buildings lighting on fire.
  • Diop bounces the strands off of some formally strong shots of the sun and moon (6-7 times) There is one in particular- a very nice transition going from a disco ball to the moon
  • Strong landscapes of the ocean and white sand
Strong landscapes of the ocean and white sand
  • Another nice visual is the green strobe lights from the club
Another nice visual is the green strobe lights from the club
  • It does feel like a film uninfluenced by anything else- a nice breath of fresh air
  • Recommend but won’t land in the top 10 of 2019