Julien Neaves – Editor
On March 28 the Trinidad and Tobago Film Festival (ttff) gave Caribbean viewers an isolation gift with #WatchaMovieOnUs: Online Screening Series – 14 films shown over 14 days, each for 24 hours, on its website. Now as you would see in the RMR About section, one of the goals of this site is to promote Caribbean film, or “Cariwood” as I call it.
So ttff has inspired me to do my own review series, 7 Days of Cariwood, which will be a mix of the Online Screening Series films and other Caribbean films. For part 2 of my review series and the film that is available right now through the ttff website (provided you are reading this April 3 and live in the Caribbean) we will be checking out Haitian crime thriller and dark comedy Kafou (Crossroad). And we will be keeping it spoiler free. Let’s go!
This film by award-winning Haitian director Bruno Mourral tells the story of two men, Zoe and Doc, who have to deliver a mysterious package before 5 am. There are three rules: don’t roll down the windows, don’t open the trunk and don’t stop the car for any reason. But of course these two amateurs break all the rules and a simple job turns into a series of misadventures that range from the comedic to the tragic, from the absurd to the disturbingly violent.
I enjoyed this film throughout its 50-minute run time. Mourral is able to build tension via a tight script, low lighting and claustrophobic atmosphere, and he delivers twists that would make Quentin Tarantino smile. The leads Jasmuel Andri (who also co-wrote the film with Mourral and Gilbert Mirambeau Jr.) and Rolaphton Mercure play off each other well and deliver in both the funny and tense moments. And Manfred Marcelin is a joy to watch as the amoral and corrupt Captain Fritz Bama. As a seasoned film watcher it is always refreshing to never be able to predict what will happen next and that is definitely the case with Kafou. This is a crossroad I would highly recommend driving through.
Score: 10/10
Kafou is also available for rent on Amazon here. And for part one of 7 Days of Cariwood and the review of Pan! Our Music Odyssey you can click here.
Julien Neaves is a TARDIS-flying, Force-using Trekkie whose bedroom stories were by Freddy Krueger, learned to be a superhero from Marvel, but dreams of being Batman. Also loves promoting Caribbean film, creating board games and is an aspiring author. Says things like “12 flavours of awesome sauce”. Can also be found talking about TV and movie stuff on Facebook at Movieville.