There was a pretty big line for this, so I jumped in – not necessarily knowing what it was all about. Went in totally blind. I’ll be honest, I don’t necessarily understand the energy or the message that is trying to be conveyed.
The whole film feels very esoteric in many different ways. The camera work in this movie is very idyllic, but also a very long drawn-out 30-seconds-a-pop kind of shots. Add to that the demonic-sounding voiceover that comes, I guess, from the perspective of the retrieved artifacts, little dialogue to speak of, and an almost complete absence of narration… it plays out like a good companion piece to the really awesome book that should be about this subject.
This is a film that I have super complex emotions about. This is a film about historically invaluable West African artifacts that are finally being returned to Benin after oh-so-many decades…and for many, many different reasons, I have no idea if DAHOMEY treats this event as joyous or tragic.
Turns out it is both of these things, the more I think about it.
DAHOMEY opens in limited theaters on October 31, 2024, and expands to additional theaters on November 22, 2024.
Editor’s Note: This review is part of a collection of reviews by Eli Brumfield after attending the 2024 AFI Fest in Los Angeles. Check out the rest of his reviews from the film festival here: AFI FEST 2024 (A RUNDOWN…)
