Supa Modo Film Review

The One Fine Day Films and Ginger Ink Films collaboration has produced some of the best films to come out of Kenya over the past decade including, ‘Nairobi Half Life’, ‘Soul Boy’ and ‘Kati Kati’. Their latest effort is ‘Supa Modo’. The writers of the film are Mugambi Nthiga, Wanjeri Gakuru, Silas Miami and Kamau Wandung’u with Enos Olik as Director of Photography and Likarion Wainaina as Director.

I must admit that I was a little apprehensive when I went to watch the film because the premise seemed a little predictable. I missed the film during the Nairobi Film Festival but managed to catch it when it opened at the cinema and watched it with my girlfriends. I am familiar with the writers as well as the director’s work and so I already knew that the work would be good but I was not ready for the excellence I was met with. The story is fantastic, the casting is on point, the cinematography is beautiful and the pacing is pitch perfect.

Supa Modo is the story of Jo, played by Stycie Waweru, a 9 year old girl that copes with a terminal illness through her love for superheroes and a vivid imagination. Her overprotective mother Kathryn, played by Maryanne Nungo, is convinced that her daughter will fare better at home and has her discharged from the hospital. Jo’s big sister Mwix, played by Nyawara Ndambia, on the other hand is convinced that Jo needs to enjoy her fleeting childhood.

The film is set in a small fictional rural Kenyan town, Maweni, that is filled with some of the most wonderful characters I have seen in a Kenyan film. Maweni residents are fond of Jo and her family as Kathryn is the resident midwife. This was a great occupation choice as it helps clearly show the terrible pain Kathryn is in as she births other people’s children while losing hers. Maweni residents attempt to help Kathryn deal with the inevitable loss of Jo in ways that are familiar to any Kenyan including prayers, fundraising for the hospital bills and offering emotional support.

Jo is aware she is sick but is unaware of the extent of her sickness. Still, amidst the uncertainty, she is a little girl using her imagination to deal with her sickness and interrupted childhood. She creates a superhero name for herself, ‘Supa Modo’ that literally translated is super person in Kikuyu. The writers and director do a good job of playing the line between her actually having some sort of superpowers and her having a very active imagination that is spurred on by the community. Mwix is the ideal big sister, helping Jo believe in herself and rallying the community together to play along with Jo’s superhero escapades, including getting help from the lovable Mike, played by John Chege, the resident filmmaker.

In the end, Kathryn does take up help from the Maweni community and this paves the way for beautiful scenes that will have you clutching your chest both in laughter and heartbreak as the residents go out of their way to create a superhero film as a gift to Jo.

As far as endings go, it’s not the happy one we are used to in most superhero themed films, but that’s what makes it so poignant. The film does an excellent job of tackling a heavy topic like a terminal illness in a child amidst the pain of a family and the love of a community. It’s not an overstatement to say that this is an excellent film and absolutely deserves every accolade it gets. If you are yet to watch it, make sure you carry tissues and go with someone you can hug after. It’s a beautiful film that will stay with you and remind you as Jo says, ”Superheroes never die.”

SUPA MODO Trailer from One Fine Day Films & Ginger Ink on Vimeo.