Losing Lerato review – Solid acting but too slow

Kagiso Modupe is a South African actor whose dream has come true in terms of making a movie with a deep message about family values.

This project, Losing Lerato, has been brewing for four years and has finally reached cinema screens.

Losing Lerato features Kagiso and his real-life eight-year-old daughter Tshimillo. They create rare chemistry in a situation that grows darker by the minute.

Kagiso’s character is a father whose ex-wife refuses to allow him contact with his daughter, a move that infuriates him to such degree that he decides to kidnap her from school and take her to a new life in another town.

Losing Lerato. Picture: Facebook

He hasn’t thought the plan through and, before long, the police are on their trail.

Eventually, dad and daughter are trapped on a bus and the father, with a handy weapon at hand, says he will kill everybody on it if they try to take his daughter.  This stand-off reaches a lengthy impasse with the hostage situation becoming untenable.

The message director Sanele Zulu attempts to convey is that taking matters into your own hands when fighting for children’s rights is fraught with danger.

One has to applaud Kagiso’s fortitude and initiative in making the film – he raised his own funds – but the execution lacks pace and direction and there are moments when things grind alarmingly to a halt.

Losing Lerato. Picture: Facebook

Tension soon dissipates and one is left hanging on to very little as the protagonists joust in a fruitless attempt to find an answer to their dilemma.

The key actors are solid and there is strong chemistry, as can be expected, between a real-life father and daughter.

Info

Rating: ★★☆☆☆
Cast: Kagiso Modupe, Tshimillo Modupe, Samela Tyelbooi
Director: Sanele Zulu
Classification: 13L

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