Guava Island

In some ways, 'Guava Island (2019)' is a feature film, albeit a very short one. In other, arguably more, ways, it simply isn't. Trying to categorise this surprise release is no easy task. It straddles the line between movie, music video, short film, commercial, art-piece, visual album and parable. Essentially, it's all of these things. Undeniably, it's a bit of an experiment. It's also, no matter which way you cut it, a story. This is a relief, regardless of the narrative's simplicity, because it allows the piece to pretty much fly by, telling a tale that actually feels quite purposeful, if well-worn, in the process. It's framed as a mother's story, which is fitting considering its fleeting and somewhat 'faded' nature, and it certainly plays out more as a kind of 'moral' than anything else. It isn't ineffective but it is, as I mentioned, rather broad, culminating in a bitter-sweet finale that doesn't necessarily hold up to all that much scrutiny. There isn't all that much emotional resonance, either. The bare-bones beats hold weight, of course, and there is some threat that causes adequate tension, but the piece seems to try every check-list trick in the book to get your tear-ducts working to no real result. Some of the themes are quite powerful but they hit the head more than the heart, which is fine but doesn't feel intentional and makes for quite cold viewing. It does feel like Glover wants to say something with this. Its actual construction is a bit bizarre, as it bounces from being a fairly serious drama to an incredibly off-beat musical from scene to scene. This causes a lack of cohesion, as does the choice to often layer the actual Gambino songs, non-diegetically, above the lead character's diegetic singing - which creates a seriously strange effect that I can't quite explain. It's also slightly strange that the music is, from what I could tell, exclusively pre-existing Gambino, but I guess that just adds to the affair's overall intangible nature. In any case, when 'This Is America' starts playing it's very distracting. Despite all this, the flick does exude a rather strong sense of atmosphere and conveys a decent amount of character, too. It isn't groundbreaking, though: the story isn't great and I wouldn't even say it's the best way to listen to the music. Still, it's an interesting quirk that's fun enough while it lasts. 6/10

So I'll start by saying the movie is enjoyable, but it has it's problematics. Biggest thing being Rihanna's character, she didn't really do anything in the film, and she just seemed so much like wasted potential, I thought she would sing at least once, but there was nothing. Secondly the major thing everyones been complaining about even the people who liked it. The movie was too short. It was too short to get attached to any of the character's, when watching Deni and Kofi on screen, I never saw them, I just saw Bino and Riri, the film is just too short to build anything up. The movie is also very guessable from the start. Now the positives of the film, The transitions of the songs were very well done, and they way they just randomly appeared was really unique, being a Bino fan it was super fun to sing along to. Then we got the aesthetic, which was super beautiful, I'm going to want a few screencaps for sure. Then of course the symbolism, lastly the Cinematography, Hiro Murai never fails to impress me, all the scenes looked beautiful. The biggest disappointment for me was not having any new Gambino music in the movie, but in all honesty if you haven't heard of Childish Gambino or don't know much about him, this might be a great chance for you to discover some of his other stuff, and you might even like the movie a lot more than me

Yup all you negative reviewers...it's NOT a movie. It's an experiment that's never been done. A chance was taken and I enjoyed it. I was left wanting more. But for a first time project like this, and nothing to compare it too, I say relax and just enjoy the music.

So I'm a huge Gambino fan to the point where if anything Gambino related comes out, I'll automatically try to find all the good in it instead of the bad. Often times, I let my fandom get in the way of quality, but Glover is a man of quality. When I heard this project was going to happen, I had high hopes for it. All I knew is Hiro Murai was going to direct it which was a great sign, Glover would be in it, and he's bringing Rihanna along for the ride, how can he mess this up. And while it is his project, it's written by his brother. I liked this film, but I'm not letting my fandom get in the way of how I genuinely see this film as a film. It was structurally broken at points and I feel as if it used the excuse of being short to get away with less story telling. But the animated story at the beginning didn't do much for me and felt very cliche. The film only strived with the way it was shot and the music scenes, however since his music plays at points out of nowhere, it takes away from the movie and seems like either filler or just Donald giving us what he has already given us and that's a bit disappointing to me. Nothing in this film was new music wise and it feels like wasted potential to do something big. But again, I am a fan, and I overall enjoyed it, it does however have many flaws that hold it down from being way better. So would I recommend it? That depends, if you're a Glover/Gambino fan then go check it out, but if you don't like him, or are not a fan of his, you might want to steer clear from this one. 3/5

It's unfortunate that all the creativity ran out of steam just when the main plot kicked off, because all the familiarity could have been easily unfelt with a bit of the imagination Hiro Murai embellished the first act with; the animated intro sequence is a case in point. Nevertheless, almost everything else in this little movie is amazing; Donald Glover's vibrant performance, and his electrifying songs, Rihanna's charisma and lovely narration voice-over, Letitia Wright's appeal (her character is completely unnecessary, though), the lively and colourful cinematography that made the titular island anything but fictional place, just to name a few!

(7.5/10)