Disconnect Film Review

It’s been a fantastic year for Kenyan film with lots of exciting new releases in 2018. One of the films that’s had quite a bit of buzz has been ‘Disconnect‘. The film boasts some of the biggest names in Kenyan showbiz in both the cast and crew, so it came as no surprise that tickets were sold out when the film premiered at the Nairobi Film Festival. Thankfully, there was a second premiere a few weeks later, as well as a cinema run. I caught the film at the second premiere at the new Anga cinema at Diamond Plaza in Parklands.

Disconnect was written by Natasha Likimani and Silas Miami, with Tosh Gitonga, best known for his work in ‘Nairobi Half Life’, as Director. The ensemble cast includes Brenda Wairimu, Nick Mutuma, Bridgette Shighadi, Catherine Kamau, Pascal Tokodi, Pierra Makena, Patricia Kihoro, Brian Ogola, Arthur Sanya, Aseem Sharma, Justin Mirichii and Illya Frank. The film is an R rated romcom that explores millennial relationships in fast-paced Nairobi.

The story revolves around Celine finding love in the hectic Nairobi dating scene, but we also get to see different representations and ideas around the concept of love from her family and friends. Her sister played by Pierra Makena, is a bride to be with cold feet while her friend and business partner played by Aseem Sharma is a woman out to have a good time. Patricia Kihoro plays a conservative Christian that is scandalized by her friends’ antics while Catherine Kamau is the tell it like it is hilarious friend.

Nick Mutuma plays Josh, a self-proclaimed nice guy who is in love with Celine, his best friend from childhood. Arthur Sanya plays the lovesick fiancé engaged to Pierra Makena’s character, while Justin Mirichii plays the sexist dudebro. Pascal Tokodi steals the show as the fun and somewhat reckless friend while Brian Ogola plays the patient and sweet love interest. Bridget Shighadi plays Neema, Josh’s driven and possessive girlfriend and manages to own the role, while Illya Frank oozes a disarming sex appeal as Josh’s business client, Linda Muli.

Celine, played by Brenda Wairimu, is a young woman going through the ups and downs of the extreme sport that is dating in Nairobi. The story kicks off with her mopping after an embarrassing incident where she attempts to move her relationship with Ken, who she’s in an open relationship with, to something more exclusive and finds him with company. It makes for an interesting first couple of scenes as she recounts what happened to her best friend Josh, played by Nick Mutuma and her girlfriend TK, played by Catherine Kamau.

I enjoyed the voyeuristic way in which the retelling is presented, with Josh and TK in the room in the flashback watching Celine make a fool of herself. There are a lot of enjoyable scenes like this throughout the film that I thought aided in adding humour to it.

Technically, the film is good with great quality camera work and cinematography. The acting is also quite good with the casting being spot on. Catherine Kamau and Pascal Tokodi steal the show though with their perfectly timed humour. I also appreciated the many recognizable location choices as Nairobi is depicted as a living, breathing city instead of the limiting boring indoor sets most of our productions tend to have. The dialogue is smart and engaging, with characters having a range of conversations on the meaning of love, feminism, adulting and following your dreams.

Unfortunately, there are a lot of unnecessary scenes in the movie and the pacing is not consistent. The characters are not well-developed, and their motivations are not clear. The story moves from Celine trying to move on from a situationship to the guy turning up dead and then being promptly forgotten to her being in love with Josh to her being in love with someone else with no breathing room. The love triangle with Neema, Josh and Celine should also have been evident from the beginning. Neema is introduced towards the end of the movie which makes it difficult to appreciate the rivalry between her and Celine for Josh’s love.

Also, Pierra Makena and Arthur Sanya who are engaged and then married in the movie, don’t share even one scene. It would have been great to see these two together to better understand their relationship and the cold feet especially since it is claimed that she proposed to him. Then there is the matter of the business proposal at Celine’s workplace that is given a lot of screen time but barely resolved, and Josh owning an agency and attending some awards that we had no idea were a thing. I feel the script needed a bit more work as it unfortunately comes off as an early draft.

The release of the film was met with controversy after Nick Mutuma was accused of sexual assault a few months ago. There was a conversation on what the ethics of supporting a film that has one of its main stars accused of something as serious as this could portend for a fledgling Kenyan film industry and if this was perhaps an opportunity for a discussion to be had, especially as #MeToo and #TimesUp continue to trend worldwide. Not much came of it and it’s a pity that there wasn’t a broader conversation on abuse and power disparities in the Kenyan entertainment scene.

Ultimately, the film is a testament to the growth of the Kenyan film industry, especially with stories that are free of the burden of NGO themes and reflect the lively Nairobi life. It’s also reminiscent of films such as ‘Dangerous Affairs’ but with a millennial cast and audience in mind. It’s a progressive fun watch and I look forward to seeing wittier romcoms like this on our screens soon.