A movie title can create great expectations. Suppose you are asked to write a movie with the title America or the United Kingdom, which subject(s) would you choose to show that cover everything. And what message do you want to convey to your viewers? Surinam is a country with a turbulent history and that according to the opening title has a lot of natural resources (in the top 15 of the world), but that it nevertheless has problems. A fact that makes you think and that you can do a lot with. Unfortunately, it soon becomes painfully clear that a possible message is hard to find.
Suriname is all about Winston Righter (Rodney Lam), who is now a minister, but has a criminal past. He uses his knowledge to make the current president resign, with the aim of taking that place himself and makes himself eligible. His cousin Steven (Cyriel Guds) and his girlfriend Nadia (Fajah Lourens) are still deeply involved in crime and when the incalculable professional criminal Virgil (Josylvio) wants meet with Winston, the question is to what extent he is able to leave his past behind him.
Although the film has a political angle, it is too small to play a significant role. This is simply a gangster movie, in which weapons and power dominate. Some beautiful locations in Paramaribo have been filmed, but the screenplay and the sometimes laughable dialogues are too weak to fully engage the viewer. The fact that the acting is generally not of a high level does not help, of course. The only real outlier is Josylvio, who breathes life into his role with full conviction. A bad character that you enjoy looking at. If you let your imagination run wild, it is not difficult to see that there was potential in the story and that with more depth, better actors this could have been a film that had something to say about the current political situation of the country. Unfortunately, it is now not going beyond the level of a disappointing crime film.
[score3]