Johannesburg, a city where the drugs are cheap, and life is cheaper.
Bright, posh girl, Niki, defies her loser father and snobby mother to date sexy singer, Larry. Meanwhile the middle level aspiring gangster, Bra Sol, is trying to set up trafficking deals.
The father daughter dynamic is further propelled by shopkeeper, Cecil, and his beautiful daughter, Palesa.
The three strands play out in intercut shots and sequences with mounting tension and violence leading to a tragic denouement.
The lights go out for the final scene in more ways that one.
This film describes the inter-tribal tensions of South Africa, with more than a whiff of corruption in big business. Whether this is true to life I am not equipped to say, but the exposition is well laid out. The story moves on with increasing pace as we see the tragic inevitability unfold before our eyes.
The photography and direction is good with the claustrophobia closing in as we reach the final moments of this hour and forty minute feature. It is no blockbuster with grand over paid Hollywood mummers, but is gritty, real, and emotional.
Worth a watch.
