‘Inkabi’ provides Minor Thrills
The 2024 South African action-thriller Inkabi is a tale of two worlds colliding: a retired Zulu hitman and a casino worker who witnesses a murder she should've never seen. Oaths are broken and oaths are upheld as the two individuals navigate the fallout of the crime. Carried by its two central actors, director Norman Maake's sophomore feature is intriguing enough to keep viewers' attention but suffers from a disjointed narrative and weak direction.
Lucy (Michelle Tiren) is a casino worker whose sole drive in life is gaining custody of her daughter, Angela, who is a ward of the state because Lucy is deemed an unfit mother for unclear reasons. One fateful day, she hails a taxi driven by Frank (Tshamano Sebe), a retired hitman, and in a rush to get to her job gets out without paying him. He is miffed and refuses to give her a ride the next day even when she tries to repay the debt. They reconnect that night at a cafe, where Lucy tells him the story of her past and her dashed dreams of going to New York (we never find out what for) and he ostensibly gives her his contact.
The next day, Lucy sleeps with high-profile casino customer Sol Horowitz (Jonathan Taylor) in exchange for money and awakens after the drug-fueled debaucherous night in his home. Amid a thunderstorm, Lucy ambles downstairs and witnesses Sol strangled to death by hitman Scar (Dumisani Dlamini). She frantically runs, calling Frank for help, and thus ensues a desperate race for survival as Lucy and her daughter become targets themselves.
Scar is a hitman like Frank was, but more specifically, an Inkabi – a hitman in the Zulu tradition, the Indigenous people of South Africa. The Inkabi are "a sacred brotherhood...their purpose is to keep the balance of power," the opening scene's narration dictates. One is only released from this vow when killed in battle, and the reformed life Frank lives is in direct violation of it. The Inkabi brotherhood is a past that Frank is running away from but finds himself inexplicably drawn back to due to Lucy.
She introduces a new tradition to him: the Protector, something her mother taught her. Once someone adopts the form of protector, a bond is formed that cannot be broken until the debt is repaid. Their dynamic of an anti-hero protecting an innocent is a familiar one, akin to films like Leon the Professional, Taxi Driver, and Man on Fire. The added layer of Zulu tradition, however, allows the film to explore what role tradition plays in one's life, what it means to break from it, and how new traditions form. Tradition is embedded into the lives of Frank and Lucy and permeates throughout the society they live in as well. But by flitting between the two characters' perspectives while also fleshing out a complex plot, viewers only get a cursory understanding of their origins and motivations.
The film is broken up into chapters – "The Guardian," "The Hit," "The Witness," "Breaking the Vow," and "The Protector" – that it would likely be better without, as they serve no real purpose as individual portions. As the film chugs along, there are also animated interludes depicting Frank's past, and narration that intercuts throughout the entire film. These storytelling devices are weak attempts to better cohere a film that is so overstuffed it leaves out the context for key plot points. The individual components are alluring; Tiren and Sebe's performances invite the characters into your heart, the dramatic tone is established well and the landscape they exist in is captured beautifully (though weakened by excessive drone shots of the city). The film is simply juggling too much to excel at everything it attempts.
Amidst the action and turmoil of the film, social commentary underlines Frank and Lucy's experiences. The cops are corrupt, the legal system has separated Lucy from the child she so longs for and Frank's attempts to create a new, peaceful life are ruined by the injustice he witnesses. The commentary threaded throughout culminates in the last 20 minutes of the film, in which a titular character is revealed – with ties to Frank's past. He is described as the connection between the rich, the powerful, and the corrupt. His abrupt introduction, and the switch to the rural South African setting, make the last act feel like an entirely different (and ultimately more interesting) film.
The ending is ambiguous and places the future in the hands of Angela. While admirable as a narrative choice, it feels like an unearned conclusion. Lucy and Frank's open-ended fates subvert viewers' desire for closure but with little reason behind it. Nothing in the film's journey is impactful enough to validate its cryptic end.
