LGM Film Club, Part 295: Neptune Frost

If you want a linear plot, Neptune Frost is not the film for you. But if you want the rare African film (in fact a collaboration between the Rwandan director Anisia Uzeyman and the American poet and artist Saul Williams) that combines a transgender perspective (well, the filmmakers specifically use the term “intersex,” which you don’t hear much anymore), a revolt of miners dying in the hills for the rare earths to power computers, and Afrofuturism, this is definitely the movie for you. It’s a bit hard to describe, but it’s basically a sort of sci-fi fantasy deeply rooted in revolting against the transphobia and labor exploitation and global capitalism of the present. Where this really works is in the cinematography. The choices made around color are outstanding, not only in the use of bright colors but in the use of shadow. It’s one of the best shot films I’ve seen in some years, probably better than any film I’ve seen released since the pandemic began (a sort of dividing line in film history because for the first time ever films just stopped being released). The beauty and poetry of the film more than made up for the wonky plot and the politics of the film, as flighty as they might be at times, also add to the enjoyment of viewing this. I liked it a lot and I am not usually a guy for wobbly plots or for sci-fi at all.

The film, being subtitled, also had a number of outstanding lines that I look forward to using as images to start posts here in the future. The writing may not be that plot driven, but it is witty and also makes some great points about gender and sexuality.

Here’s the trailer, check out the whole film if you’d like: