Even when the acting is largely underwhelming, one can still admire Losing Lerato 2’s botched attempt at addressing the theme of sacrificing for one’s own family.
By Seyi Lasisi
When Sanele Zulu–directed Losing Lerato first appeared in 2019, what was immediately striking and moving about the film was the unbreakable bond between Thami Radebe (Kagiso Modupe) and Lerato (Tshimollo Modupe.) Thami, divorced from Noluthando (Samela Tyelbooi), his high-class ex-wife who is now married to local politician, Jake (Thato Molamu), struggles to connect with his daughter amid the complexities of their strained relationship.
Thami, in what’s best described as a mixture of desperation and illogical thoughts, decides to kidnap Lerato. The unplanned abduction fails, leading to Thami’s imprisonment. Five years later, directed by Zolani Phakade, the sequel arrived on Netflix.
After over a decade behind bars, Thami is released on medical parole. Now twenty-one, Lerato can finally meet Thami without the weight of past tensions. However, a quiet sorrow hangs over their reunion as Thami’s untreated illness threatens to be fatal.
This sets Lerato on a relentless quest to ensure her father’s treatment. At this point, what strayed into Losing Lerato 2, jointly written by Ricardo Arendse and Modupe, is a political discussion about favouritism. Before Thami’s release, Jake (Zolisa Xaluva), now the Minister of Health, successfully ensured Olwethu’s (Zia Kani) kidney transplant, bypassing the lengthy waiting list. As the story unfolds, it adopts a satirical tone, highlighting how government officials leverage their positions for personal gain and exclusive privileges.
Setting a large part of Losing Lerato 2 in the hospital and using the supposedly overworked Doctor Xolani (Aubrey Poo), the film made itself susceptible to modern-day South African political issues. Rather than fund and provide infrastructural support for the healthcare system, Jake, the Minister of Health, diverted the funds for personal use.
As politically correct as this is, the film’s inability to build a story about the supposed theft makes it unbelievable. We are relentlessly told of budget constraints, understaffed hospitals, and lack of infrastructure in the hospital. But, we don’t, at any point in Losing Lerato 2, see the active effects of this.
Another strange aspect of the film is witnessing Noluthando’s unperturbed disposition towards Lerato’s relationship with Thami. As someone who actively denied Thami’s access to Lerato to the point of sending him to prison, it appears unusual that she would present a welcoming approach toward Lerato’s continued affection for her father.
Perhaps, decades later and now older and emotionally and financially secure, she doesn’t feel threatened by Thami’s unbreakable relationship with Lerato. However, even so, the film doesn’t devote moments of visible disapproval. Losing Lerato 2’s attention is awkwardly focused elsewhere.
In 2020, the film won some international awards at the annual Idyllwild International Festival of Cinema organized in California. The awards it won include The Roger Taylor Award for Best Original Score, Golden Era Humanitarian Award, Grand Jury Award for Best Performance by a Child, Grand Jury Award for Best Actress Feature Film, Grand Jury Award for Best Actor Feature Film, and, ultimately, the IIFC Award Best of Festival. Modupe’s acting anchored the heart of the film.
The unmistakable affection between Thami and Lerato is explored admirably. (Interestingly, Tshimollo, who played young Lerato, is the lead actor’s real-life child.) In Thami’s acting, despite how strained his disposition is, when he glances at Lerato, his face dissolves into a smile that hides the worries of the world he is carrying. Similar to his acting in Losing Lerato, in the sequel, Modupe’s face is a fitting canvas of pain and painful abandonment.
More like Thami’s hasty kidnap attempt, the sequel is spotted with holes. The relentless use of flashbacks to remind viewers of Lerato and Thami’s bond is ill-advised. The film’s failure to interrogate how Thami survived in prison while thinking about his daughter or how Lerato managed her childhood with the knowledge of her father’s imprisonment makes it devoid of emotional depth.
Although Losing Lerato 2 quickly adopts an incoherent disposition and is littered with unnecessary and prolonged scenes, its attempts to explore the intricacies of the family can be appreciated. Even when the acting is largely underwhelming and the story development shoddy, one can still admire the film’s botched attempt at addressing the theme of sacrificing for one’s own family.
Rating: 2/5
(Losing Lerato 2 is currently streaming on Netflix.)
Seyi Lasisi is a Nigerian creative with an obsessive interest in Nigerian and African films as an art form. His film criticism aspires to engage the subtle and apparent politics, sentiments, and opinions of the filmmaker to see how they align with reality. He tweets @SeyiVortex. Email: seyi.lasisi@afrocritik.com.