So this is a Kenyan movie from 2018 about a lesbian romance, and it’s particularly notable because it was banned in Kenya (a ban that was upheld just this past April). So as you can imagine, this isn’t one of those more modern cheery queer romances, this is one of the old-style love-that-dare-not-speak-its-name type.

It starts off with kind of a Montague and Capulet thing, where two girls are the daughters of men running for political office against each other, and so them becoming friends gets frowns from their families. But once they go past friendship, things take a rather grimmer turn — though it’s worth noting that the ban was for the movie being “too hopeful,” so without me explicitly spoiling anything, you can assume that it could be worse.

Visually, the movie is gorgeous; the director noted in an interview that she wanted to capture how colorful Nairobi is, and she certainly succeeded in that. The characters work well, too — the two heroines have instant chemistry, and the supporting cast is fleshed-out such that they all feel like specific people who, you feel, have their own stories that you could write a movie about.

The only real quibble I have is that the tragic-romance premise seems dated by today’s standards; but then, based on the reaction the movie got, it’s clearly timely af for Kenya, so that really just boils down to taking the movie on its own terms and realizing that it’s part of a political battle that’s not in the same place as it is in America.

And in the end, the movie is, as the government censors say, hopeful. Recommended.