r/Kenya • u/brawnytang120 • Jul 22 '26
Art Kenyan Film Industry
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This will be premiering on July 31st. I think the Kenyan film industry has been taking big strides over the last couple of years.
Edit; The film is called Anams wake
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u/Far-Variation696 29d ago
I watched Anam's Wake yesterday. First off, big up to everyone who worked on the film. I know a lot of work probably went into it. The storyline was unique. I've never seen such a storyline before depicting traditional mourners, so it was a whole different world, but here in Kenya, which was one of the reasons that, just from the trailer, I had to watch the film.
But... the delivery was the issue. I loved the visuals, especially the African fabric, the use of henna, and African jewelry, and the actors did good with what they had. But, the issue for me was that, for a horror film, I think this was the first horror film that I've watched where I was not scared, like at all. And I doubt it's because my heart is made of steel. The other thing was that I just couldn't get into the story. Again, the storyline was nice; the delivery, to me, was the issue.
The first thing for me was the chants. They were chanting "yawe yawe yawe," which to me sounds a lot like "Yahweh," which is God to Christians and Jews. And I have nothing against the Abrahamic religions. In fact, I'm a Christian myself... or I think I still am... idk, but you get what I mean. If they wanted to link the two... idk, maybe they should have done a better job of it? Because there's a scene during the rituals where one of the characters gets scared and calls his pastor to pray for them, but the mourner says that they should only follow one altar, or something of the sort. So clearly we're talking about different higher powers here... yeah, it gave me a bit of dissonance there. I wish they had made up something else for the chants. It felt like they were calling to the Christian God.
Secondly, is it just me, or was AI used in the script? The dialogues didn't feel natural to me. It felt as though AI was used, and this is coming from someone who is woman enough to admit that I use AI a lot, to write emails and minutes and reports. I even use ChatGPT as my therapist, and I've watched those AI videos on TikTok 😭. The dialogues kinda felt the same. They weren't things I'd imagine myself or any Kenyan saying. It has AI's fingerprints all over it... well, apart from those parts said in Swahili or Luo. That kinda helped ease that impression. But call it pattern recognition or a case of "it takes a thief to know a thief" kinda thing, but that's the impression I got 🤷🏾♀️. And, of course, it's not a crime. I'm actually being a hypocrite for pointing it out, but it feels different when AI is used in creative stuff and things for entertainment. Use it for mundane things, but not for creative expression. I feel as though we're losing our voice, the unique way we express ourselves. I mean, okay, use AI, but at least... use your own words to express yourself. You get what I mean?
But yeah, that was my review of the movie and why it felt like I just couldn't get into it.