Girl from Nowhere

The story goes in a lot of very weird directions, the writing is abysmal, and the characters are one-dimensional, but it's still an okay way to spend an hour and a half. Liza gets a little more interesting as she opens up, but the story itself is disconnected and clearly has absolutely no idea what it's trying to say. Great eye candy in the landscapes, at least; rolling hills, rocky crags and beautiful veldt as far as the eye can see. And Liza isn't that bad to look at either.

If you're okay with a flick that is "fairly good" and "almost works" then you might give this one a shot. It's a simple set-up, super low budget with only three actors in one setting (and some driving scenes) and for the first two thirds is where it qualifies as "fairly good". With only three actors it's a shame when one of them struggles more than the others, but one of them is pretty good so it balances out. The location is visually striking although the director doesn't really take advantage of it, and it held my interest for the most part. The weak link was definitely the screenplay. The characters aren't consistent (which only makes sense for one of them) and the dialogue is spare and rather bland. There's not enough being said or done to make a truly gripping psychological thriller, it more or less just plods along. But I kept watching, waiting to see where it would go, but unfortunately it completely falls apart at the end. Basically the script doesn't really do anything with it's set-up and then everybody starts behaving stupidly just so there can be an actual climax. For two thirds of this short little flick it couldn't commit to being a mystery, or a character piece, and then in the last ten minutes tries to be all of the above, plus maybe a thriller, maybe a crime flick, maybe a supernatural thingy, maybe a symbolic representation on the impossibility of truthful relationships. It was a 6.5/10 until the climax then I have to drop it down to a 4. But you might be more tolerant.

The story, pacing... everything except the cinematography is terrible. Nothing ever happens but the filming location is nice. So bad.

A couple from Cape Town traveling to their desert getaway (Scot Cooper & Tamryn Speirs) picks up a beautiful girl curiously hitchhiking the remote highway (Christia Visser). They invite her to their hideaway, but might regret it.

"Girl from Nowhere" (2017) is an Indie psychological drama from South Africa costing $203,000 (converted). Aside from the mental dramatics, it proficiently focuses on the beauty of the South African desert wilderness and that of Liza (Christia Visser) mixed with quality eclectic folk/rock reminiscent of stuff by the likes of Orenda Fink and Ane Brun.

It explores the same theme addressed in "Afternoon Delight" (2013), the spellbinding power of a beautiful woman who might be a devil within. Liza has a body sculptured by God himself, and this is a highlight of the flick, but her attitude is a big red flag, not to mention a turn-off.

The acting isn't great, but it's serviceable for a low-budget Indy. The positives noted above made me appreciate the flick, but the last act is too freestyled, like director/writer Mark Jackson & the cast made a lot of it up as they were shooting. Nonetheless, the ending makes a powerful point that's true to reality.

The film runs 1 hour, 25 minutes, and was shot in Cederberg, Western Cape, South Africa, about 2 hours' drive north of Cape Town.

GRADE: B-/C+

Visually breathtaking, displaying the rugged Cape in all its glory, but the story is pointless and boring. Why do South African movies tend to disappoint so often with painfully bad acting and ambiguous storylines when we have such terrific actors and directors in this country? Being proudly South African myself I always look forward to sitting down and watching a movie straight out of my home country with issues and places I can relate to, but then I end up disappointed. There are only rare exceptions to those experiences with movies such as Chappie and District 9 and even though my understanding of the Afrikaans language isn't great, Afrikaans movies tend to be much better as well as those acted by our black actors regarding issues relating to their experiences. Faith Like Potatoes was another rare exception - totally wonderful movie. Girl From Nowhere just lets one down with a dragged out plot and pointless ending. Maybe I should have smoked a joint while watching it so I could gain more clarity perhaps? What a waste of the last hour and a half.