beorhhouse
Postpartum depression? Post Traumatic Rape Syndrome? Controlling mother syndrome? Haunted by the distant past? A combination of the four? In any case, whatever the girl's problem is-- the cinematography is fantastic! The pacing is excellent! The characters are all well-rounded and realistic. This is a Slasher film, if smart and sassy, so step into this one either able to deal with extreme horror or as a veteran of the same. This is a girl-leaves-home-gets-raped-by-redneck-has-baby-goes-back-home-kills-first-man-who-tries-to-rape-her kind of movie. Just so you know.
lespritz
This has no talent, scare, budget, and is brutally boring, and pointless. Avoid.
Michael Ledo
The film opens with 1901 background. A concentration camp ran by the British in South Africa was the place of rapes and babies killed from the results of those rapes. Fast forward to New Eden as Chloe (Reine Swart) gives birth to a baby out of wedlock and vows never to wash her hair so she looks scuzzy the entire film. Not too hard to guess it would be a rape baby. Ghosts from past come to haunt her or else the wiring is bad and TV reception is poor. We eventually get all of the back story, unfortunately the story wasn't anything new or exciting. Blah dialogue. No likeable characters. Guide; rape. No swearing, sex, or nudity.
babyjaguar
Caught this film last night, it was met with much anticipation considering last year's social media buzz on its low distribution by South African cinema franchises, supposedly due to its themes. It's been blogged that the film was inspired by Afrikaans folklore but unfortunately the film never really goes there.It's about a young mother, Chloe played by Reine Swart going through a bad case of social depression. She lives with her mother plus a newly born baby and set in South Africa (although no Black South African actors nor extras are seen). The story specifically takes place in a forest looking location; Eden Rocks, it makes one wonder if it's a reference to the recent controversial "White Christian Only" gated community called "Project Eden" (but that's in the desert area). Anyway, what follows that Chloe has visions, or illusions of a type of boogey man (or more of a boogey woman spectre) referencing the film's opening scenes of early 1900s Dutch (?) Christians participating in ritual sacrifices. Chloe's spectre comes off looking like a flying nun whose apparitions makes her sanity worse throughout the film, but this is where the narrative drags.Director Darrell Roodt, who has been nominated (and has received awards) for his film productions such as 1992's Sarafina. Surprising, this film's weakest points of not developing character depth by using its star power, namely Brandon Auret (from CHAPPIE fame) top billed as Dr. Reeds. This narrative had great potential to use his acting talents to raise the suspense and horror, instead of employing predictable jump scares.Yet, the most notable aspect of "Siembamba" (known as "The Lullaby" abroad) that it's an initiative in developing more contemporary South African cinematic horror. Although its marketing has been trying to do a comparison with the Australian film "The Babadook", but this film could probably be compared to an earlier Millennial Italian horror film, "Ghost Son" by Lamberto Bava (also set in a Southern African location).
AD
