Avis des critiques

The tangled web of unlikely incidents would be at home in a screwball comedy or perhaps one of Beauty’s soap operas, but writer-director Jenna Cato Bass plays it curiously straight. Harrowing moments of sexual violence, misogyny and racism are mixed in with far-fetched shootouts, horseback chases and even a dance scene. It’s an odd mix of tones that doesn’t always work but, like its protagonists, Flatland is not afraid to strike out and look for something new.

[T]here’s a certain magnetism to the setting and performers that holds the film together, and the movie is if nothing else unique – a glimpse into a very particular slice of South Africa that feels genuine and lived-in, even through the layers of genre abstraction. It’s an experiment that was perhaps only partially successful, but the process is certainly intriguing and worthwhile.

While Flatland could certainly benefit from Spinal Tap’s approach of going all the way up to 11, with Bass never fully committing to leaving the ground, it’s still adorably weird. But not cute – God, no: there is a nastiness here that permeates the whole story, and no amount of clumsily executed shoot-outs, as entertaining as they might be, make one forget that unless you happen to be a white male, this world will bring you down, or at least die trying.

Although Flatland is in some ways fragmented, this doesn’t necessarily detract from the narrative itself. Flashes of intense clarity and powerful recognition mean that viewers will be stimulated, provoked and left perhaps with more questions than answers.