As a South African, nothing about this movie seems authentic to the setting. The old farm house is not typical of real farm houses and looks like it is trying to copy the archetypal "haunted mansion". The way the opening scenes are shot with a car driving on a lonely hillside surrounded by trees is immediately reminiscent of similar American movies. The way they tried to force an essentially old, unoriginal story into a South African context makes it even less enjoyable to watch. The characters behave like modern ones, but the story is set in 1970. How can one know this? It was Apartheid. There is no way they could have possibly set a story where a young white girl is allowed to hang out with an old black man during Apartheid and STILL make it seem believable. A situation like that would never have occurred. Another telling part of the anachronistic setting of this film is where the young girl calls the main character "sir". Black people were not addressed like that by white kids during Apartheid. They would have used the character's first name. The out-of-place setting immediately comes across as pretentious to a South African viewer. Then there is the aunt and uncle. They're supposed to be married, but they come across as strangers - though that's clearly not the aim of the story. Never so much as a hug, a kiss or even a smile. The husband does not seem to care about the wife and neither the wife nor the husband seem to care about the little girl. The family dynamic isn't off or atypical, it simply isn't there. We never get to know the characters themselves, yet the film feels like it dragged on forever. There should have been some time where the audience could get to know the main characters before jumping into the proverbial "house of horrors". Perhaps one could then have more interest in the film because of the bond created with the characters. The cinematographers did shoot and edit some very good scenes, but this was the wrong story for them to be wasting their talents on.
Review of The Soul Collector
