Guava Island

I thought that the writing was pretty much average, but in this case, and knowing Gambino´s work as well as Murai's, I can tell that this is case in which quality of the story can be overshadowed by excellent direction and photography as well as an ambitious way to merge Gambino's music with the story itself.

It puts you in a pretty relaxing tropical vibe throughout all 55 minutes of runtime (which I find an excellent format to make movie, I would like to see more short films like this), and of course Gambino's always quirky characters makes you rapidly fall for him and his dreams.

Some things were predictable in the way the story was told, others didn't make much sense to me, but I find it to be an entertaining movie that brings you some joy and offers you a refreshing experience in the greater scheme of cinema.

It's unfortunate that all the creativity ran out of steam just when the main plot kicked off, because all the familiarity could have been easily unfelt with a bit of the imagination Hiro Murai embellished the first act with; the animated intro sequence is a case in point. Nevertheless, almost everything else in this little movie is amazing; Donald Glover's vibrant performance, and his electrifying songs, Rihanna's charisma and lovely narration voice-over, Letitia Wright's appeal (her character is completely unnecessary, though), the lively and colourful cinematography that made the titular island anything but fictional place, just to name a few!

(7.5/10)

The cinematography is wonderful and watching Donald Glover perform is always a treat. That man can do it all!

This is a staple and a must watch.

So I'll start by saying the movie is enjoyable, but it has it's problematics. Biggest thing being Rihanna's character, she didn't really do anything in the film, and she just seemed so much like wasted potential, I thought she would sing at least once, but there was nothing. Secondly the major thing everyones been complaining about even the people who liked it. The movie was too short. It was too short to get attached to any of the character's, when watching Deni and Kofi on screen, I never saw them, I just saw Bino and Riri, the film is just too short to build anything up. The movie is also very guessable from the start. Now the positives of the film, The transitions of the songs were very well done, and they way they just randomly appeared was really unique, being a Bino fan it was super fun to sing along to. Then we got the aesthetic, which was super beautiful, I'm going to want a few screencaps for sure. Then of course the symbolism, lastly the Cinematography, Hiro Murai never fails to impress me, all the scenes looked beautiful. The biggest disappointment for me was not having any new Gambino music in the movie, but in all honesty if you haven't heard of Childish Gambino or don't know much about him, this might be a great chance for you to discover some of his other stuff, and you might even like the movie a lot more than me

Guava Island could have been a lavish vanity project. Instead it's a little movie with a big heart. Full of musicality, beautiful locations, cinematography and people. Charming performances and a message to boot. It's also old school in the best possible way. Don't miss it! 8/10