Rungano Nyoni’s On Becoming a Guinea Fowl is a searing exploration of toxic cultural silence and the difficult question of whether breaking away from it is even possible. Through an incisive and emotionally layered narrative, the film dissects the intersection of gender, family, and societal complicity, grounding its examination in a single family while exposing a much broader reality.
The story follows Shula, a young Zambian woman from a middle-class family who has largely been estranged from them due to her time abroad. Returning home, she finds herself reimmersed in a world where trauma and abuse exist in the shadows, acknowledged but never spoken about. One night, on her way back from a party, Shula comes across her uncle Fred’s lifeless body on the road. This discovery is complicated by the fact that Fred, now being mourned as a respected figure in the family, had a history of inappropriate behavior toward Shula and other young girls. Yet, as is often the case in tightly bound communities, this truth is an open secret that no one is willing to confront.
Nyoni’s film is at its most powerful when it portrays the culture of silence and complicity with brutal clarity. Police officers don’t arrive at the crime scene until the following day, showing little interest in investigating. As the film shifts to Fred’s funeral, it delivers some of its most striking sequences. One of the most affecting moments involves Fred’s widow, who is punished and ostracized for actions she did not commit, reinforcing how women bear the consequences of their husbands’ misdeeds. Another standout scene occurs when Shula, in a rare act of kindness in a culture where self-preservation is the norm, prepares food for the widow, only for the family’s women to deny her the opportunity to eat, enforcing the expectation that she must suffer in silence.
Susan Chardy’s performance as Shula is quietly commanding. Her reserved, watchful expressions convey layers of unspoken emotion, making her an effective surrogate for the audience. As someone with European influences, she is set apart from her family, offering a lens through which the viewer can navigate the complexities of this world.
Nyoni, known for her sharp critiques of patriarchal societies, blends dark comedy and surrealism to highlight oppressive cultural norms. The film’s surrealist elements add a dreamlike quality that enhances its themes, though at times they slow the pacing, particularly in the second act. The title’s metaphor—of Shula becoming a Guinea Fowl, a bird that warns of predators—suggests transformation, yet the film focuses more on how this change unfolds rather than what it ultimately means for her or the world around her. Just as its thematic threads become most compelling, the film ends, leaving a sense that it stops short of fully realizing its most thought-provoking ideas.
Ultimately, On Becoming a Guinea Fowl is a striking, often unsettling depiction of cultural silence. Nyoni’s direction is sharp, and her critique of patriarchal complicity is incisive, yet the film’s abstract elements and its reluctance to push its final act further hold it back from being truly great. Nonetheless, it remains a bold and thought-provoking piece, reinforcing Nyoni’s reputation as a filmmaker unafraid to challenge conventions.