Siembamba

In Eden Rock, the pregnant Chloe van Heerden (Reine Swart) returns to the house of her estranged mother Ruby (Thandi Puren). She refuses to tell her mother who the father is. She delivers the boy Liam, but fall in depression and lives an ambiguous situation, rejecting Liam and trying also to be a good mother. When she starts to see an evil entity and hear humming and shh, she visits the psychologist of her mother, Dr. Timothy Reed (Brandon Auret), who prescribes pills to her, believing she has baby blues. Meanwhile Chloe recalls how she got pregnant after leaving Ruby and her best friend Adam Hess (Deànré Reiners).

"Siembamba" is an atmospheric horror movie, with a messy screenplay for a simple storyline. The best this film can offer is the magnificent performance of the unknown Reine Swart. She never tells anyone her dramatic fate after leaving home, and the creepy scenes are hard to understand. Is the evil entity part of her insanity process or is she real? The film fails since is not clear. My vote is three.

Title (Brazil): "Siembamba, A Canção do Mal" ("Siembamba, The Song of Evil")

I thought it was going to be your average horror movie, but it's absolutely not. It's a very heavy drama which deals with such themes as horrors of the motherhood, mental illness and rape. All of this and a paranormal element on top of it which references genocide in concentration camps during Anglo-Boer War in 1901.

The horror scenes are terrifying and very effective. The actors' performances are excellent and add a lot to the overall heavy atmosphere.

I feel like this would have benefited with better talent attached to it. I would have much rather it be a drama/thriller. To me all the demonic haunted house delusions, weaken what could have been. the lead actress looks like barbra palvin

I am well aware of what postpartum psychosis is and this is a really good depiction of it. This movie is more of a psychological horror than a full on jump scare horror. The mental illness was shown very well and for that I'm glad.

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).