
Variety
Attractive adaptation... a diverting but surface-level saga that, true to its title, feels less than whole.
Full reviewChiwetel Ejiofor (12 Years a Slave) and Thandiwe Newton (Crash) star in this drama, a chronicle of family ties and civil war. Set in Nigeria in the 1960s, two sisters return home after an English education as the violence of the Nigerian Civil War looms in the background. The feature debut from celebrated playwright Biyi Bandele.
Olanna (Newton) moves in with her politically-minded lover Odenigbo (Ejiofor) when she comes home to Nigeria, while her sister Kainene (Anika Noni Rose) falls for an Englishman studying the nation's arts. As Nigeria's independence becomes more than a subject of intellectual speculation and conflict erupts between different ethnic groups within the country, personal betrayals threaten to unravel familial and romantic ties.
LessAttractive adaptation... a diverting but surface-level saga that, true to its title, feels less than whole.
Full reviewA profound and insightful glimpse into a troubled nation and the consequences on its people...
Full reviewBandele’s keen handling of cast and domestic conflict makes for a nuanced historical epic.
Full reviewBravely takes on too broad a canvas with too narrow a budget, but it’s a relevant saga that’s worth telling.
Full reviewRather frothy... Limiting insight to the upper classes of the Igbo and little else – with rather quaint newsreels to plugs the gaps – feels misguided.
Full reviewNewton and Ejiofor elevate this lush if fundamentally soapy tale of a family surviving the Nigerian civil war.
Full reviewHalf of a Yellow Sun is available to stream in New Zealand now on Google Play and Apple TV and Academy On Demand and AroVision.
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