Shula drives down a dark road late into the night, the radio playing in the background. Her headlights suddenly illuminate a figure laying on the road. As she pulls over and approaches, she realizes it’s a dead body—her uncle’s.
Discovering the body of a family member in the road would bring most to hysterics. But this woman’s response is a complex, uncertain silence, followed by a glance toward us, the audience, then a sigh that raises the question: Is this grief, or relief?
These opening moments only scratch the surface of Rungano Nyoni’s On Becoming a Guinea Fowl. Nearly eight years after her directorial debut I Am Not a Witch, the Zambian director returns with a drama about a woman coming to terms with her family after the death of her uncle; a man who is not loved equally by all of his relatives. The film follows Shula (Susan Chardy) as she clashes with tradition, guilt, and her familial relationships to discover how to mourn for a man with more skeletons in his closet than any of the rest of her family would openly admit.
This compelling narrative is the film’s strongest leg. From the beginning, there’s an uncomfortable aura around the uncle’s death that starts with Shula’s reaction and only gets more complicated as customs, tensions, and drastic measures unearth difficult feelings bubbling inside many of her family members. The late uncle’s enigmatic home life leads to questions surrounding his death, causing Shula to get far more wrapped up in the mystery than she would like. As the funeral proceeds, Shula begins to question the importance of remembering the deceased for their finest moments instead of acknowledging the pain that they might have caused to others while alive. These questions only become harder to quiet in her head as she reconnects with her estranged cousins, realizing that the past is not so easy to silence when it becomes a collective burden.
On Becoming a Guinea Fowl does an incredible job of keeping its narrative interesting from start to finish. As an American, on the surface level, it is fascinating to witness this Zambian family’s cultural norms surrounding death as Nyoni lets the events unfold in real time while Shula gets swept up in funeral preparations. But digging deeper into the film’s thematics reveals an intense sincerity balanced with humor as it discusses the clash of tradition and modernity, the difficulty of mourning when the object of one’s grief is far from easy to love. It’s enthralling to watch Shula discover her personal stance on her uncle and his funeral while trying to not be overwhelmed with pain, growing tensions, and the celebration of life that comes with honoring the deceased.
Chardy’s performance is the other cornerstone of the film. From the very opening moments, Chardy imbued Shula with a presence that builds history, frustration, and fear all from a simple eye shift. To think that this is Chardy’s on-screen debut is astonishing, given how natural she is on camera while articulating Shula’s journey with such vulnerability and reverence. The rest of the ensemble does a good job too, but they’re somewhat overshadowed by how engaging Chardy is as the protagonist. However, I’d be remiss to not at least give recognition to Elizabeth Chisela as Nsansa, Shula’s cousin, who brings the humor and rebellion to bounce off of Shula’s uptight nature.
Sadly, while the engaging narrative and the strong lead performance elevate On Becoming a Guinea Fowl, I wish I felt the same about the film’s pacing. While the film is just over 90 minutes, much of the film’s exploration of its themes fall short due to an overreliance on scenes of Shula ruminating on new information. While those slower moments are usually held together by Chardy and the cast, they do lead to a slight sense of underdevelopment. It doesn’t completely kill the energy of the film; it just makes the final product feel excessively slow without reward.
Flaws and all, On Becoming a Guinea Fowl shows Nyoni’s talent as a director is one worth keeping an eye on in the future. The film’s themes surrounding the many ways one uses grief cements it as a story worth giving your time to. As a bonus, the film’s subtle score (by Lucrecia Dalt) gradually becomes more prominent during its strongest moments, making for a perfect accompaniment to the rising tensions of the story. While it starts with a dead body on the side of the road, it ends up being an entertaining drama that starts off the year with a unique, worthwhile experience.
Freelance writer out of Indianapolis. Co-host of Odd Trilogies podcast. Whether it's films or television, I'm always down to watch!