Moffie

For a long time, Nicholas has been feeling different, which in turn leads to feelings of shame and denial. At 18, he is enlisted for mandatory military service to fight for the Apartheid regime, and the feeling of being different is forced to the front of the stage. Moffie unravels as a nightmarish tale of a young boy who, against his will, is fighting on the side of the oppressive racist regime in South Africa in the 1980s.

Already on the train ride to the military camp, Nicholas senses the stifling, macho essence of the environment he is headed into. The train is chock-full of young boys drinking, being rowdy, vomiting, and spitting out racist statements – as if in a fever dream of toxic masculinity, accompanied by atonal string instruments and intense, evocative cinematography.

At camp, any free time in between training sessions is used for skinny dipping and sweaty volleyball tournaments. Director Hermanus makes steady shifts between the brutal regime of the military camp, which reminds us of Kubrick’s Full Metal Jacket at times, and the erotically charged atmosphere between the boys, reminiscent of Denis’ Beau Travail. This is pitch dark and masterfully executed cinema from one of the most promising and thrilling talents of South Africa.

Mads Voss

Read Cinema's review of Moffie here (in Norwegian).

Director

Oliver Hermanus (b. 1983) is from Cape Town. His debut film Shirley Adams (2009) premiered at Locarno Film Festival, and the following works Beauty (2011) and The Endless River (2015) premiered at Cannes and Venice, respectively. Moffie also debuted in Venice, to rave reviews.