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- 2021
- Icarus Films
- 1 h 36 m
- 2021
- Icarus Films
- 1 h 36 m
Summary Political activist Boniface "Softie" Mwangi runs for office in a regional Kenyan election, which puts pressure on his young family and his convictions.
- 2021
- Icarus Films
- 1 h 36 m
- 2021
- Icarus Films
- 1 h 36 m
Softie
73
User Score
Available after 4 ratings
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Where to Watch
Summary Political activist Boniface "Softie" Mwangi runs for office in a regional Kenyan election, which puts pressure on his young family and his convictions.
Where to Watch
Top Cast
Metascore
Generally Favorable
Based on 5 Critic Reviews
73
80% Positive
4 Reviews
4 Reviews
20% Mixed
1 Review
1 Review
0% Negative
0 Reviews
0 Reviews
Metascore
Generally Favorable
Based on 5 Critic Reviews
73
80% Positive
4 Reviews
4 Reviews
20% Mixed
1 Review
1 Review
0% Negative
0 Reviews
0 Reviews
The film is just as much about politics as it is a family working out the demands of a politically active life with the demands of the home.
For Mwangi, Softie serves as testament of the domesticity he’s been absent from to satisfy the demands of his thankless vocation. But for the rest of us, it stands as a portrait of the kind of selfless, unifying and much-needed patriotism, from both Mwangi and Njeri, that could enact improvement if more subscribed to it wholeheartedly.
Softie clearly sees a beam of long-term hope for Kenya’s future in Mwangi and his political allies — including his no-bull, vinegar-tongued campaign manager Khadija, as delicious a documentary scene-stealer as we’ve seen this year. Yet Soko doesn’t go in for easy, crowd-pleasing uplift.
The film is unafraid of showing the real costs of political corruption from blood running in the streets to direct bribery at the polling stations on the day of the election. As intimate as it is brave, Softie is vivid warning and not an easy film to shake.
Soko gets credit for not softening Mwangi’s landing, and the outcome of the election is dropped as nearly an afterthought to his valiant efforts. But the on-the-ground campaigning and complex history could use a better shape than the film’s fits and starts.
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Production Company
LBx Africa,
We Are Not the Machine,
Eye Steel Film
Release Date Jan 29, 2021
Duration 1 h 36 m
Genres
Website
https://lbxafrica.com/
Awards
Sundance Film Festival
• 1 Win & 2 Nominations
El Gouna Film Festival
• 1 Win & 2 Nominations
Cinema Eye Honors Awards, US
• 1 Win & 2 Nominations
