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Rafiki Movie Review

Rafiki is a 2018 Kenyan romantic drama film directed by Wanuri Kahiu and starring Samantha Mugatsia and Sheila Munyiva. It’s a simple, but powerful drama.

Nairobi-based Kena is attracted towards Ziki, a girl from her neighborhood. Though the two get close, they face troubles as the Kenyan laws do not allow homosexuality. Eventually, the two get physically and verbally tortured, but years afterward they end up together once again. Wanuri Kahiu is a clearly talented director and her directing here was quite strong, especially her emphasis on the colorful nature of Kenyan cities and towns.

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But it would not have been possible for her to make this movie “promoting homosexuality” in an African country, so she got the help from the Western producers. The result is a film that was banned in Kenya to an international outcry, but received strong reviews in America and Europe. It premiered at Cannes and was the first Kenyan movie to premiere there.

When it comes to the movie’s quality, it’s pretty good, though clearly not great. There were missed opportunities to make this movie truly special, especially when it comes to its ending. If there ever was a lesbian romance that needed to end tragically, it was this one. I did not ask for the deaths of these characters of course, but them getting back together in spite of these tremendous societal hurdles just rang false and it rendered the entire third act less impactful.

Still, the movie was very heartbreaking in that third act and especially seeing the reactions of the girls’ mothers were infuriating to witness. One father got to be painted a bit more positively, but the mothers were truly atrocious, which was unfortunately quite realistic. Their peers kicking them down was the most brutal moment that deftly contrasted the somewhat hopeful and romantic remainder of the story.

That first half was so sweet and charming. It was also very down-to-earth with the smoother colors contrasting the colorful town beautifully. It was a great choice to paint their relationship as very normal and some would say boring to contrast what the laws of the country would say about these relationships.

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These two actresses also managed to elevate their somewhat weakly written roles due to their strong acting work. Both were excellent, but the one playing Kena was the more memorable one and she was a more interesting character overall. Their tender dynamic was wonderful, but I wished for more of those as the movie was actually devoid of romantic and sensual moments for most of its short runtime. The production design, editing and score are all quite terrific, especially for its shoestring budget, but a longer runtime and a more thematically richer approach would have made wonders for this story. The dialogue was also too on-the-nose at times.