Cult Review
Senior Film Conservator
If you like old, grainy footage and have a high tolerance for colonial-era attitudes, you might find this interesting. If you’re looking for a tight story or something that moves quickly, you will probably hate it. It’s a relic, plain and simple. 🦁
There is no big dramatic reveal here. It’s just a bunch of guys in the African bush trying to catch a lion that got a bit too hungry for cattle. It feels more like a home movie from a very expensive, very dangerous vacation than a polished piece of cinema.
The pacing is… well, there isn't much. It’s mostly just watching people walk through tall grass. Sometimes they stop to look at footprints. Then they walk some more. It’s honestly kind of hypnotic if you let your brain turn off for a bit.
There’s this one shot where they’re setting up a trap and it goes on for, I swear, an eternity. You can see the dust kicking up in the light, and for a second, I forgot what they were even doing. It felt more like watching No Parking, just staring at static surfaces and waiting for something—anything—to shift.
It’s hard to ignore how different this is from something like The Cowboy and the Lady, where everything is polished and performative. Here, nobody is acting. They’re just sweaty and squinting at the sun. It’s raw, but not in the way you’d expect from a modern thriller.
There are moments where the camera just wanders off, like the person holding it got distracted by a bird or a weird branch. I kind of liked that. It makes the whole thing feel less like a project and more like a document of someone actually being there.
It’s not a masterpiece, and it doesn't try to be. It’s just a weird, dusty window into the past. Don't go in expecting Murder Will Out-level excitement. Just take it for what it is: a very long, very hot afternoon in the grass. 🏜️
