Jewel review: Lazy writing and shallow characters make Adze Ugah’s drama a disappointingly dull watch

1.5/5

Story:

Set in Sharpville, South Africa, Jewel revolves around the story of Tyra Black(Michelle Botes), a photographer whose visit to the township leads her to cross paths with young Siya(Nqobile "Nunu" Khumalo). Tyra feels a strange connection to Siya, despite having never met her before. Prodded by her ailing grandmother, Siya decides to act as Tyra’s guide. The photographer’s haunting past also seems to have a strange connection with the tragic massacre that rocked the township in 1960.

Review:

In the very first scene of Jewel, viewers reminded of one of the darkest times in South Africa’s history, through the story of the Sharpeville massacre that rocked the nation which was still grappling with the inhumanity of the apartheid. But although the film’s heart seems to be in the right place, Jewel miserably fails in its attempt to bring forth to viewers a well written, emotionally charged story.

Just how lazily written the film is becomes glaringly obvious right from the very start, the starting point being the haunted protagonist Tyra Banks. In her shoddily written, and frankly awkward, conversation with a fellow tourist, Tyra’s motivations are cracked right open with the subtlety of an air horn. Right from that moment it becomes more or less clear the track the story will take, and even that does not pan out organically. Reeking of white guilt, Tyra’s motivations seem to be nothing short of childish and misplaced, and there are several moments in the film where she comes across as being incredibly unlikeable just by being herself. Her shallow characterisation seems to be the perfect complement to the wafer thin plot.

Comparatively, Siya seems to be a step better than Tyra when it comes to characterisation. But even Nqobile "Nunu" Khumalo’s admirable performance as the innocent, duty bound Siya cannot save the character from shallow writing. Reeking of wasted potential, it seems that the writers decided to phone it in with her character as well. Siya had all the makings of being a well rounded character. Her inner conflicts, the way she slowly climbs out of her submissive demeanour for the ones she love, all presented a great opportunity for a character growth arc that actually unravelled in the most disappointing of ways possible.

Tyra and Siya’s chemistry, or lack thereof, makes the duo’s interactions more awkward than anything else. The way their bond develops is rushed, inorganic and nonsensical as well.

The film’s dismal attempt to bring something resembling a complicated antagonist is also another aspect where the writers seemed to have dropped the ball. We see their motivations all over the place, clumsily written and a totally illogical way to culminate the story with. Save for Khumalo, most of the film’s cast too seemed to have been as lethargic as the writing.

Even flimsy characterisation could have been overlooked had the writing done the film’s story justice, which sadly is not the case here. Instead of the focus being on hard hitting and stirring aspects of the tragedy, the story is reduced to nothing more than a vehicle to carry Tyra’s white guilt. And even that is not done in a way that manages to be engaging either.

Verdict:

Although Jewel had promise, its potential is wasted away by lazy writing, shallow characters and some uninspired performances.