Moffie

Moffie, the story of a young soldier who forms an erotic connection with another conscript during basic military training on the Angolan border in 1981, is both confronting and tender. Brutal scenes of boot camp, with its physical and psychological abuse, contrast with an elegantly understated portrayal of a teenager’s emerging feelings for a fellow conscript, a relationship conveyed with a light touch but tense with the possibility of detection. Homosexuality was illegal in apartheid South Africa; those caught would be sent to a psychiatric ward. Despite some disturbing moments, viewers will be compelled by Moffie’s powerful storytelling.