There have been movies depicting the brutal treatment of soldiers during training. There have been movies about a secret gay relationship in the military. This film covers both issues. It takes place in 80s South Africa, when the white minority government drafted all boys over 16 to join the fight to defend apartheid and diffuse the threat of communism. The protagonist (Kai Luke Brummer) watches cruelty on several fronts, while struggling with his own identity and the man he’s come to care about. The majority of the movie is spent showing various characters’ humiliation and fear, while some of the detours and developments seem aimless or abrupt. Brummer’s performance is appropriately subdued, but most of his emotional development comes from his changing haircuts. The heavy-handed ruthlessness that surrounds this story eventually becomes trying and the concluding moments seem abruptly unsatisfying. BTW, the title is South African slang for sissy. (In English and Dutch with subtitles) 
(2.5 / 5)
