Rebelle (War Witch) follows a teenage girl from the Congo named Komona, who is taken from her village and forced to join a group of rebel forces. She drinks “magic milk” from a tree, which results in her seeing the ghosts of her parents, who warn her of upcoming danger. This labels her as a witch among the other rebels, which gives her both extended privileges and the threat of eventual death. She begins a romance with an albino rebel named Magician and together they aim to begin a new life together. I thought that Rebelle was a solid film. In some ways I thought that the film felt a bit like a Terrence Malick film, through its heavy use of introspective narration by Komona. While it can be described as a war film, the film changes focus at the halfway point to be more about Komona's efforts to put her time as a rebel (and the fact that she was forced to shoot her parents) behind her. In fact, there is a humorous subplot to the film, in which Magician proposes to Komona, but she will only accept if he can find a white rooster (which are apparently rare in the Congo) to give to her. It was a nice little distraction from the dark subject matter of the rest of the film. Overall, I thought that Rebelle was a decent film and I would recommend checking it out.8 | LIKED IT
