BRIDE PRICE

got a bit better at the end but the middle was really hard to sit through

There are good individual elements here, a strong lead performance, a vibrant cultural setting, some genuinely funny moments, but they don't cohere into a film that knows what it's doing at every point.

paul's dad literally made every scene better, absolute comedy

not really for me but well made and clearly coming from a genuine place

Structurally troubled and occasionally inert in its middle passages, Bride Price offers moments of real charm and a cultural specificity that deserves a better vehicle.

cried at the wedding part and felt good leaving. simple as that really

The film has warmth and it has craft and the craft serves the warmth rather than the other way around. Its weaknesses are the weaknesses of its genre. its strengths are its own. Worth your time.

The film frustrates because it clearly has the materials for something better. The performances, the setting, the tradition, all more interesting than the story being told with them.

The film is more respectful of its cultural subject than it is creative with its narrative one and while that respect is valuable, it doesn't fully compensate for the dramatic shortfalls.

The kind of film that a critic could nitpick indefinitely without undermining what actually matters about it. Not every joke lands and not every transition is smooth, but the overall effect is more than the sum of its rougher parts.

Bride Price does a number of things well. What it does best is make you care. Paul's journey to raise $100k on a teacher's salary is a love story compressed into a financial challenge, and the film understands that compression.

The film's confidence in its own material is the quality that makes everything else possible. The emotional payoff is proportionate to the emotional groundwork, which is the basic covenant every film makes with its audience and which many films betray. Affectionate and skilled in equal measure.

paul was a genuinely good character, you root for him the whole way

the costumes looked incredible and paul's determination was actually really moving

A sincere and imperfect film. The imperfections are real; the sincerity is realer.