"Prime" has three different genres combined, or at least that's what we've been told. It's a drama, a thriller and a horror film. Sadly, doesn't
succeed at any of those except for some bits and pieces that aren't quite well put together to generate an interest, to leave you thrilled or horrified.
And it's not even a case of attempting too much or making such a combo of genres since one can actually get a decent movies with those. It's too vague
and confusing in what it's trying to say.
As a drama, it almost get interesting to watch as we follow the problems faced by a white South African man (Richard Gau) involved with a black
woman (Nomsa Twala), as he tries to commit himself to her while coping with a recently deceased father, a racist by the way, some ghosts from his
past which disturbs his senses to the point of failing to give a proper attention to his partner, and also deal with a major dream project he developed
for the community. The poor woman is all alone as he keeps getting past visions and some strange new ones revolving a mysterious woman named Eva
(Jasmine Hazi), of which we never know exactly if she's real or not; at the same time he blacks out and wakes up not knowing what he's doing.
If the thriller isn't thrilling and the horror is not leaving you scared, then you know you have a big problem. The drama is slightly interesting
because deep down we cheer (a little) for this couple to be together and figure a way out from their problems. I got really involved with Nomsa's
character as she's clueless to what's going on with her man - but she deals with his strange behavior - at the same time she deals with her own problems,
without him knowing. Her breakdown scene is amazing and very needed since at the time of the film she already dealt with so much that it's painful. And
there's such a growing distance between, zero romance and all, that I kept saying to myself "Gurl, leave that man right now!".
And on a deeper level what was "Prime" trying to say? Was it to show that social relations in South Africa, years after the end of apartheid, are still
a deep problem and clashes are unavoidable? Unrelated past traumas and family problems can affect your life when you get old? A moral tale about
temptation and weaknesses of the flesh, as later on he begins to fall for Eve, and that weak souls can never find strength? I couldn't get nothing from
here, the excessive flashbacks and visions made it all more confusing instead of intriguing in order to connect the pieces together.
It's getting some points because the actors were good, the sequences at the beach where most of the man's visions take place are amazingly shot, and
in the words of a high authorative drama teacher, as said to a future filmmaker when he showed his project to him: "Well, it didn't make me fall asleep".
3/10.
