Moffie – A Decent Character War Drama (Early Review)

When it comes to character studies, sometimes said character makes up for the story being told. When it comes to Moffie, this was once again the case. Based on the book of the same name by André Carl van der Merwe, the film tells a compelling albeit overambitious coming-of-age story in the midst of 1980s Apartheid South Africa that is ultimately let down by a lack of depth and a messy story in order to try to keep up with that ambition. That being said, the emotion is there amongst its pieces but those pieces don’t quite make a engaging enough whole. In the end, what somewhat ties those pieces together in a watchable way was a stellar lead performance by Kai Luke Brummer. Premiering back at the 2019 Venice Film Festival, the film is sure to strike a chord with audiences thanks to its often emotional albeit inconsistent story and beautiful cinematography while many will unfortunately be left wanting more.

Moffie follows Nicholas van der Swart (Brummer), a young man who was certainly different from most but nevertheless, he fought to keep that other side of himself hidden. With the South African government riddled in a war near the Angolan border, Nicholas found himself in a difficult position as a 16-year-old white man, having to serve two years of military service to defend the ultra-racist Apartheid government. From there, he was confronted with the toxic masculine culture that made up the majority of the South African military where those who did not fall in line were frowned upon and shunned. Faced with countless atrocities and the need to survive within such a toxic culture, Nicholas had to push his real self even further back. When it seemed like all hope was lost, he befriended another soldier named Dylan Stassen (de Villiers) for whom he found solace in and take on this new world alongside.

The lack of character development or focus lessened Nicholas and, to a lesser extent Dylan’s, arcs as it made connecting with their journeys both difficult and difficult to follow as the film got by with the bare minimum and barely scratched the surface which still somewhat worked but was still sad as there was arguably so much more potential there. What Moffie succeeds at however, was that uncomfortable feeling Nicholas must have felt at all times either surrounded by the other soldiers for whom he clearly had nothing in common with or in a wartime setting though also that ease and comfort he felt with Dylan. This only got him so far as he had eventually had to accept his new surroundings and that moment marked a drastic change in him. That was until his war was suddenly over and that weight was lifted from his shoulders. Regardless, it was just hard to care as the film’s subpar development of Nicholas and Dylan and its abrupt ending did not afford any time for viewers to feel Nicholas’ relief.

While the score was solid, ultimately, the best part of Moffie was Brummer’s stellar performance as Nicholas. His charisma and screen presence made for an easy character to connect to him and his pain and inner conflict in spite of the film around him that failed to allow him to further pursue that pain and inner conflict. He carried the film. Meanwhile, his chemistry with de Villiers, who was okay as Dylan, was okay because neither he or their relationship truly had a chance.

At the end of the day, Moffie is a decent war drama whose heart was in the right place but suffice it to say that Kai Luke Brummer is a name worth looking out for.

MOFFIE is available to rent on AppleTV on April 9th, and will be available this summer on IFC Films Unlimited.

still courtesy of IFC Films

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Keith Noakes

The EIC of the coincidentally-named keithlovesmovies.com. A Canadian who prefers to get out of the cold and into the warmth of a movie theatre.