On Becoming A Guinea Fowl (2024): Review and Summary
“On Becoming A Guinea Fowl” does well in world-building, highlighting a part of Zambia’s less tourist-focused culture, as a family secret gets smothered due to a funeral, rather than getting you into its characters.
Spoiler Alert: This summary and review contains spoilers.
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| Film Length | 1 Hour 35 Minutes |
| Release Date | October 26, 2024 |
| Advisory Rating | Rated PG-13 |
| Initially Available On/Via | Film Festival – Montclair Film Festival |
| Genre(s) | Drama, Non-English (Bemba) |
| Distributor | A24 |
| Director | Rungano Nyoni |
| Writer | Rungano Nyoni |
| Based On Work By | N/A |
| Character Name | Actor |
| Shula | Susan Chardy |
| Uncle Fred | Roy Chisha |
Plot Summary
In Zambia, sometime around Halloween, Shula discovers her Uncle Fred dead on the road. She spreads around what happened, and funeral proceedings begin and because of Uncle Fred’s history with girls in his family and neighborhood, there are many mixed feelings between the girls he assaulted and those who believe you shouldn’t speak ill of the dead.
Trailer
Character Descriptions
Shula
Shula is one of Uncle Fred’s many victims, but like the others, she has moved on and made something of herself.
Uncle Fred
You get a different version of Uncle Fred, depending on who you talk to. His sister will speak highly of him and many of his family’s uncles. However, when it comes to the nieces and other young girls, he is a predator who even married one of the children he messed with and burdened her with multiple children who may not get a cent of his money.
Other Noteworthy Information
- Movie Contains: Suggestive Language, Sexual Situations (Implied), Criminal Acts (Dialog About Assault and Pedophilia), Depiction of Corpses, Drinking
- The distributor is also known for “We Live In Time.”
Review
Our Rating: Mixed (Divisive)
Audience
“On Becoming A Guinea Fowl” gives insight not only into funeral practices in Zambia but the complicated conversations regarding rape culture and inheritance.
Highlights
The Cultural Aspect
The best thing about watching “On Becoming A Guinea Fowl” is gaining some sense of understanding of the less pristine part of Zambian traditions. Now, this isn’t to say the film is a total representation or an exception—let’s keep that in mind. However, there is a level of detail here that isn’t overwhelming but allows for an amount of world building that rivals a lot of films.
Whether it is seeing the coal man, expectations for a funeral, how families wrestle with secrets, or even community court in lieu of a surrogate’s court, “On Becoming A Guinea Fowl” becomes the epitome of making a culture or a neighborhood more than just the background but an entity that develops like a character. Heck, I’d say more than most characters, including Shula.
On The Fence
Lack Of Character Development
“On Becoming A Guinea Fowl” isn’t worried or thinking about the individual. It is a movie about the collective and reminds you of what happens when people try to make themselves stand out, cry out, and not blend in. With Shula, you know she has a job, isn’t really for a lot of the traditions of her family, or her family in general, but that’s it.
Beyond her? Uncle Fred is only developed in terms of you knowing how far he has gone and with how many girls. There is no reasoning given, not that any would justify his acts. On top of that, as for the silence of men and women, again, there is nothing. Everyone may not be interchangeable, but I wouldn’t say anyone truly stands out, whether they are our medium, like Shula, drunk, loud, a vocal defender of Fred, or even his widow.
The Ending
When it comes to “On Becoming A Guinea Fowl,” you might think with Shula taking to Uncle Fred’s widow, they will build a connection; she will be her advocate, and with Shula’s mom being one of Uncle Fred’s sisters, she will use that to make a change. Granted, not a permanent change since there are likely men beyond Uncle Fred out there, never mind who knows what other children he has running around. However, you’d hope this would be a clear and confrontational moment.
To not give away the ending, let’s say it can feel like you get an ellipsis. Similar to “Hard Truths,” there is a push for you to recognize nothing will change because of one person or one moment, especially after decades, if not generations, of something becoming an abnormal norm. Which for those who like happy endings, the kind with a resolution, that could be a problem. However, for those who don’t believe every movie must have a definitive, or even happy, in some form, ending, “On Becoming A Guinea Fowl” might be right for you.
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