''Flatland'' is a 2019 South African drama film directed by

Jenna Bass Jenna Cato Bass (born 1986) is a South African film director, photographer and writer. She has written stort stories under the name Constance Myburgh, one of which was shortlisted for the 2012 Caine Prize.Alison Flood'African Booker' shortlist o ...

. It was screened in the Contemporary World Cinema section at the

2019 Toronto International Film Festival The 44th annual Toronto International Film Festival was held from 5 to 15 September 2019. The opening gala was the documentary film '' Once Were Brothers: Robbie Robertson and The Band'', directed by Daniel Roher, and the festival closed with a ...

. Examining race, gender and class in contemporary South Africa, it is part road movie, part Western and, within its noir sensibility, speaks with intelligence and kindness of its three central women characters.

Plot

In the arid

Karoo The Karoo ( ; from the Afrikaans borrowing of the South Khoekhoe !Orakobab or Khoemana word ''ǃ’Aukarob'' "Hardveld") is a semi-desert natural region of South Africa. No exact definition of what constitutes the Karoo is available, so its ext ...

, the shy and innocent Natalie marries the young policeman Bakkies, equally inexperienced and uncertain. His maladroit effort at consummation leads her to grab his revolver and flee to her beloved horse, that is stabled beside the pastor's house. When the pastor ferociously orders her to return to her husband, she shoots him dead and rides off into the desert. Calling on her heavily pregnant friend Poppie, she takes her off on a quest to find Branco, a trucker who is the father of the imminent child. Meanwhile, the police officer Beauty drives up from Cape Town into the desert to see her husband Billy, who is serving 15 years for murdering his brother and is suspected of breaking out to kill the pastor. Beauty quickly ascertains that the suspicion is false, but Billy seems to want another sentence. After Natalie and Poppy find Branco at a roadside bar run by Theunis, the four agree to head for Johannesburg. When the road is blocked by snow, Branco seduces Natalie, who responds to his practiced approach, while Theunis tries to rape Poppie. He is stopped at gunpoint by Beauty, who has been trailing the two girls and takes the pair back in handcuffs. She does a deal with the local police: she will give them Natalie, who in panic killed the pastor, and they will hand Billy into her custody. Natalie is restored to her ungrateful husband, Poppie's labour pains start, while Billy eventually agrees to escape across the frontier and start a new life with Beauty.

Cast

*Faith Baloyi as Captain Beauty Cuba * Nicole Fortuin as Natalie *

Izel Bezuidenhout Izel Bezuidenhout (born 25 November 1998) is a South African actress. She began her career as a child actress. She is best known to international audiences for her roles in the films '' Flatland'' (2019) and '' Wild is the Wind'' (2022). Early ...

as Poppie *De Klerk Oelofse as Sergeant Bakkies Bezuidenhout *Albert Pretorious as Theunis *Clayton Evertson as Branko *

Brendon Daniels Brendon George Kofi Nana Osei Mainoo Daniels (born 24 September 1993) is an English footballer who plays as a winger for club Stourbridge. He turned professional at Crewe Alexandra in May 2011, but was released after two years with the cl ...

as Billy *Eric Nobbs as Jaap Bezuidenhout, father of Bakkies *Maurice Carpede as Reverend Salmon

Reception

On the review aggregation website Rotten Tomatoes, ''Flatland'' has approval rating based on reviews.

References

External links

* 2019 films 2019 drama films South African drama films Afrikaans-language films Feminist films 2010s drama road movies 2010s female buddy films {{2010s-drama-film-stub