‘The Tokoloshe’ (2018) Is A Tale Of Innocence Lost – Movie Review

A tokoloshe is a creature from Zulu mythology who terrorizes people (mostly children) in their sleep, leaving long scratches on their bodies before choking them to death. Director Jerome Pikwane’s debut film, The Tokoloshe, blends this myth with the story of a broken girl struggling to survive in modern Johannesburg. The film stars Petronella Tshuma (Avenged 2013), newcomer Kwande Nkosi, and Dawid Minnaar (The Gospel According to Matthew 1993).

Synopsis:

Busi, a young destitute woman with dangerously repressed emotions, lands a job as a cleaner at a rundown hospital in the heart of Johannesburg. Desperate for the money so she can bring her younger sister to Johannesburg, she must cope despite the predatory and corrupt hospital manager. When Busi discovers an abandoned young girl in the hospital who believes she is tormented by a supernatural force, Busi must face her own demons from her past in order to save the child from the abusive monster that pursues them both relentlessly.

Busi (Tshuma) creeps around the darkened hospital like a ghost herself, clinging only to the desperate dream of saving her sister from a terrible life in her hometown. When her boss attempts to sexually assault her, she escapes but is haunted by visions of a previous assault as a child. Only the idea of helping Gracie (Nkosie), the little girl in the hospital, drives her back to her old job to face her boss. Gracie claims to be haunted by the Tokoloshe, who follows her no matter where she goes. And there’s nowhere the two can go to escape it…

First of all, this is, hands down, the best movie I’ve seen this year. Shot in English and Zulu, The Tokoloshe may include elements of a Zulu folk tale, but there is an overriding theme of the helplessness of women in a world of men. Busi and her sister were both victimized by their father just as Busi was by her boss. There are many shots throughout the movie that show Busi walking alone and looking vulnerable in the darkened, dangerous city of Johannesburg. From her boss to her father to her landlord, every male in Busi’s life seemed to value women for only one thing – the sex they could give them.

This theme and the Tokoloshe itself become intertwined until the viewer is not really sure if the creature is real, or if Busi has conjured it with her own righteous rage. Busi is a force of nature once she kidnaps Gracie from the hospital and decides to take matters into her own hands, facing her past – and the Tokoloshe – once and for all.

The acting is absolutely incredible in The Tokoloshe. The weight falls almost entirely on the two main leads: Petronella Tshuma and Kwande Nkoshi. Both rise to the occasion with strength and grit. This script is beautifully written…. you need to pay careful attention to catch the twist. The cinematography is incredible in this film, and the scares are great. Both the city of Johannesburg and the wide open fields of Busi’s home village are photographed in a sinister way, as they hold the same dangers for the two leads. It’s quite a feat.

There is not much in the way of blood and gore, but there are plenty of well thought out, genuine scares. This is a very thoughtful, extremely atmospheric slow burn that should be seen by everyone.