Sugar Island mixes a coming-of-age story of a young Haitian Dominican woman with the historical dimension of the country.
Director: Johanné Gómez Terrero
Genre: Drama
Run Time: 91′
Language: Spanish
BFI London Film Festival Screening: October 18-20, 2024
U.S. Release Date: TBA
U.K. Release Date: TBA
The start of Sugar Island immediately situates us in its historical dimension. “The beginning of the sugar production in the Antilles coincides – and not coincidentally – with the first assent granted in 1517 by the Spanish crown for the introduction of enslaved Africans” is our first approach to the movie, as told in the initial intertitles. While the movie is not set in 1517 but in modern times in the Antilles, it still seeks to explore the country’s complicated history, while following the story of a young woman forced to grow up too soon.
Sugar Island starts with Makenya (Yelidá Diaz), searching for a job. While her friends are dancing and having fun, she has to leave this world behind due to an unwanted pregnancy that makes her become an adult far too quickly. Makenya lives with her mother and her grandfather. The latter fights for pension rights in the sugarcane industry, which is increasingly threatened by the mechanization of the industry. Her mother also plays a key role in her life and the Batey community, as she reflects back on the history of the country with other women on screen and the audience behind it.
The cinematography (Alván Prado) is very fascinating and one of my favourite parts of Sugar Island, as it makes it an especially unique product. As the story moves on, every shot of the film almost feels like a work of art that we cannot help but admire. The movie surprises us with an innovative use of lighting and colour and a clever camera set-up for its entire first half. While the look of the film is almost flawless, the same cannot be said for its narrative, which feels increasingly chaotic and unclear as it continues.
From a storytelling point of view, the most interesting element of Sugar Island is the focus on its main character. Makenya’s journey in the movie takes her to sudden adulthood, whether she likes it or not. This is, at times, heartbreaking as she is often not allowed to have a say in her life and her future, but this plotline speaks to very real struggles that many women go through.
However, this is not the only plotline that Sugar Island tackles. There is an entire second story, almost as prominent as its main one, that virtually teaches us the history of the country by taking a look at its past. This may at times feel too educational and didactic, but it is still very powerful, especially for the audience members who may not know much about it before watching the movie.
However, the narrative itself quickly becomes too confusing. While watching Sugar Island, I could not help but feel like I was watching two different films cut into one. There is a point of connection between the two stories, but they rarely inform each other in the larger narrative of the movie. In both the personal narrative and the historical dimension, I felt like the film could have done a lot more with its stories. Because of the diverging direction of these two stories, none of them seem thoroughly explored as much as the audience might have wanted.
Ultimately, Sugar Island is evidently a directorial debut: a lot of it – especially the narrative – is off at times and can feel incomplete as a product. It is, however, a very promising one that makes me excited to see where this filmmaker will go next. Despite its faults, the film’s originality also makes it stand out, telling a story that many of us in the audience may not have been familiar with in the first place. At the same time, it also showcases a very real problematic situation that we see the characters fight for throughout the film, even if this seems more of a side plot rather than the main topic the movie explores.
Sugar Island will be screened at the BFI London Film Festival on October 18-20, 2024. Read our list of 30 movies to watch at the 2024 BFI London Film Festival!
