Love Sex and 30 Candles Review: The new drama, feel-good South African Netflix movie is all about sisterhood, and is based on the book 30th Candle by Angela Makholwa. Starring Amogelang Chidi as Dikeledi, Bahumi Madisakwane as Nolwazi, Gabisile Tshabalala as Sade and Candice Modiselle as Linda in the lead roles of the four longtime best friends, the movie has been directed by Stephina Zwane, written by Zwane as well along with Zoe Laband and produced by Salamina Mosese.
With a runtime of 106 minutes, the film is rated ‘A’ due to scenes featuring sex and domestic abuse. It also stars Terence Bridgett, Lunga Shabalala, Clementine Kosimane, Anthony Oseyemi, Loyiso MacDonald and others in important roles.
Love Sex and 30 Candles Movie Review Does Not Contain Spoilers
Love Sex and 30 Candles Review: Discussion
Netflix has lately been working a lot in terms of building up its South African catalogue on content and steadily releasing titles falling under various genres. After the steamy thriller series that was Fatal Seduction, now comes Love, Sex and 30 Candles, though vastly different owing to its rather emotionally dramatic theme, but also a bit too familiar considering older such American flicks that most of us have grew up watching.
Introducing a close-knit group of four best friends, the movie opens with a montage picturing the long history they’ve shared together, from their early varsity days. As the years elapsed, these girls saw all bits of each other’s lives together and grew together as well. Now turning, 30, each of them still has the other to count on, but simultaneously, there are some parts of their lives that they have to go through alone, for better or for worse. Some are still getting to know their family, some are getting engaged, others are dealing with their commitment issues, and even working their butt off to finally earn the life of their dreams.
Through their friendship, the movie essentially highlights the importance of having a good support system around oneself, but it soon delves into a cliche formulaic recipe that induces a strong sense of deja vu. As a secret surfaces to the top, it endangers all that these friends have built together and lived through all these years. That is especially what the movie centres around, and frankly speaking, we all saw this coming.
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While it feels good to see the leading quartet of ladies as a strong unit, it only does so momentarily. Although it may seem that I’m repeating myself here, but when I finished watching the movie, I didn’t know what to say about it because of how similar it appears to be as compared to many sleepover movies I’ve watched on TV all these years. Therefore, it’s appropriate for a flick like this to receive an OTT premiere because even visually, its cinematography resembles the looks of a PG 13 TV movie, which has now been made into a content restricted to adults simply due to the inclusion of sex scenes.
Despite Netflix’s latest preoccupation with the word “Sex” in a way to accord its content the image of contemporary modernity and forward-thinking approach, this film settles down as an older counterpart. Since it falls into the South African content roster of the platform, so from the top it appears to be an accepted result of the world wanting more onscreen representation, but coming down to its actual content and what it has to say, the movie’s charm is like that of the old day releases.
Moreover, its bigger conversations are again merely restricted to the sphere of romance. In spite of positioning these individuals as “modern women”, most of their respective solo arcs (though they flourish equally on all sides, with neither of them being posited as sidekicks to the other) are tied to the trials and tribulations they’ve encountered through their relationships with male characters.
A more feeling outlook towards them would’ve included the visuals of the dynamic they share with other people from their family as well. However, that happens in only one case, but it too sticks closer to the relationship ties with an older male presence. Even after presenting the whole picture as a more “modern” one, Love Sex and Candles is only weighed down by these old classic elements.
Love Sex and 30 Candles Netflix Movie: Final Thoughts
What I sincerely liked about the movie were those brief moments shared between Linda and her mother. It’s possibly only through their conversation that we get a more progressive look into how turning 30 isn’t the end of the world, especially in a society that is particularly obsessed with getting women to marry off “before its too late”. Other than that, the movie has a very clear idea of who it’s catering, and it mostly emerges as one of those movies watched by a squad of girlfriends on a sleepover night because its feel-goodness largely arises from a sense of nostalgia tied to those old TV movie releases.
Love Sex & 30 Candles is now streaming on Netflix.
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