The Tokoloshe review: South Africa drums up some genuine scares in this tale of a supernatural predator.
The Tokoloshe review by Kat Hughes.
The Tokoloshe review
Directed by Jerome Pikwane, The Tokoloshe is a feature debut out of South Africa. It tells the story of Busi (Petronella Tshuma), a young woman who is desperate for money and takes the night shift at the local hospital. As she starts to work, she befriends a young girl who believes that she is being terrorised by a supernatural being called The Tokoloshe. Then children start being taken, could the Tokoloshe be responsible?
The Tokoloshe plays very much like Under the Shadow. It’s a slow building supernatural story that teases the scares as the film unfolds. It’s not a jump-scare fest like a lot of Hollywood movies, it’s much more sophisticated and intellectual. There are frightening moments, they just don’t scream in your face, things are much more subtle.
It’s an assured performance from Tshuma, she captures the vulnerability and loneliness of Busi in an empathetic way. She misses her younger sister immensely and it’s soon obvious why she takes to Gracie. Kwande Nkosi too is great as Gracie, a character who has arguably more to do on the scare front. There’s a standout sequence around the midway point wherein Gracie is tormented by The Tokoloshe in her hospital rooms. It perfectly conveys that fear of the dark that you felt as a child, and also works as a brilliant homage to A Nightmare on Elm Street.
The Tokoloshe review
The Tokoloshe unfortunately falters towards the end as it makes the mistake of revealing its monster. Everyone knows that films are more frightening when the monster remains a mystery, and here it’s too much. The story would have been so much more powerful had we not seen the movie monster. The design choice is also a little too close to another very well-known movie creature, and the similarity is a big distraction.
A solid debut that is let down by one small decision, The Tokoloshe is a chilling story with some very strong moments.
The Tokoloshe review by Kat Hughes, by Kat Hughes.
The Tokoloshe screened at Arrow Video Frightfest 2018.
