Nairobi Half-Life Director Returns! Reviewing Netflix’s Inside Job

Added: 2026-05-30

[00:00:00]Have you read mom Dany's book? Uh, the [music] new book >> Slow Poison.

[00:00:03]>> Slow Poison.

[00:00:04]>> I haven't and I'm embarrassed. It's been sitting on my desk for a week and I've not opened [music] it yet, but I'm going to read it.

[00:00:10]>> So, no. So, a big part of the book is he puts Idiamin in this sort of [music] uh point of view where to some Indians was a hero. You know, the move to chase them out of out of Uganda was a good move for them because [music] they were going to become, you know, the lower class you've mentioned. Uh, most of them came as workers. They were running out of a job uh because of their skin. [music] They were not fully accepted, fully assimilated into society and uh you know they were broke. The country was also like you know [ __ ] There were no opportunities in the country. So when Amin decided [music] to chase them out their status as refugees in in the UK and the US was much better [music] according to this book. Yeah. Was much better. Yeah. And so when mom Danny was visiting some of those families in the US, some of them had like you know many how Indians have so many gods. [music] Part of the gods was like a picture of India made. So yeah, they're all dancing away in the house party and [music] the the the guys who chew mirror, they call it jaba in Kenya. These jaba chewing guys are there and the music's a bit whack. [music] It's kind of they're playing EDM or some Spice Girls or something and the Jaba guys are like, "No, let's have some real music." and they put on some geneton and they [music] start g you know grinding and all of that and the whole vibe of the party improves and all of the Indians who originally have been a bit paranoid that these Jaba guys are like going to rob them and the next minute they're all dancing and [music] you know rather like um you know this is like the flip side of sinners right so in when we reviewed sinners you know I was um arguing probably [music] wrongly according to all the feedback online that this is a film that is promoting a form of segregation. I still think [music] it is. And this film um Toshkonga's um [music] inside job is promoting a form of racial harmony, ethnic harmony. And part of that message is through music. We can come together. We can dance together.

[00:02:07]Doesn't matter if you're a jaba [music] junkie from Eastley or if you're a Indian you aristocrat [music] from Parklands. you can all come together and grind and have fun and just have a drink and enjoy yourselves. I like that message and [music] and I like that about the film. It was so fil is we have these people who claim to be filmmakers who feel like >> they've been burdened by the responsibility of making films for us.

[00:02:35][music] We do not want their films.

[00:02:37]People shouldn't People shouldn't make films unless they have stories to tell.

[00:02:41]We are not hungry for film. That is [music] the truth.

[00:02:45]>> We're hungry for stories. Yes, we want to watch innovative stories. That is what [music] we want. Don't redo the same story with your camera and your name on it as a director. We don't want that.

[00:03:03]Yeah. Uh welcome, welcome back to the Real Africa podcast. My name is Kenneth and [snorts] with me David Ceell.

[00:03:10]>> Yes. Uh and today we shall be talking about >> inside job. The same job >> directed by Tosh Kitonga.

[00:03:18]>> Toshonga. The same one who directed >> Nairobi Halfife.

[00:03:22]>> Halfife. Yes.

[00:03:23]>> Which we loved.

[00:03:24]>> Which we loved. And >> I loved it.

[00:03:25]>> And we lost.

[00:03:27]>> Did you like Did you love Nairobi Halfife?

[00:03:30]>> I enjoyed it. Yes. Yes. But we lost our review for Nairobi Halfife. So maybe we'll redo it.

[00:03:34]>> We'll do it again. Yeah. Maybe with a British podcaster if there are any out there who want to review it with us.

[00:03:41]Can't think of anyone. [laughter] But if you're if you're a podcaster and you want to review a cool African movie with us, reach out and we'll do Nairobi Halfife together.

[00:03:51]>> Yeah, >> that'll be fun.

[00:03:53]>> So So uh inside job is uh so the story is uh this lady who is working as a maid for uh an Indian family.

[00:04:05]>> Yeah.

[00:04:05]>> Uh gets fired for stealing uh jewelry.

[00:04:10]Uh when when she gets fired, they won't pay her pension. M >> so the daughters choose to come back and rob the former boss >> and yeah you know one thing leads to another it turns into a romance unexpected romance >> and yeah the haste in the end actually I think >> it's a heist movie it's a but it unlike most it's a heist movie that goes right [laughter] >> a heist movie that where the heist is kind of righteous and has a happy ending. Yeah. So yeah, uh I think in a nutshell that's really what it's about.

[00:04:43]U most of the stuff that happens in the details, you know, the scenes here and there. And yeah, I'm curious to learn what works in this movie.

[00:04:53]>> Well, I'm interested that you led with the uh the theme of the maid who gets fired because she isn't like a principal character. She's more um an excuse for a heist. And but it's interesting because you're right, you know, it starts with this moral equation which is a wrongfully fired um older woman, a mama classic mama figure, then justifies uh a kind of Robin Hood stealing from the rich to give back to the poor. And my kind of summary, I guess, of the film overall is it's about class and social mobility in Kenya. Uh and class overlapping with with ethnicity. So the the Indian theme is very strong here.

[00:05:39]The antagonists if there is one really because it's not really so much of a clear antagonist in this film but the antagonists are more or less the Indian kind of rich family.

[00:05:50]>> Yeah. I mean that's not how I see it but yeah uh uh from from my perspective I feel like he wanted to be he was very sensitive the director or the writer they were sensitive about the film coming off in any way as a tribal film this tribe versus tribe but I think they wanted to stay a little bit honest to the class you know who actually has money you know you know the the face of money in Nairobi same as Kala is Indian if you an Indian family the assumption in Kala is usually that there's a most slightly rich people right so I think that's what they wanted to do but the way they approached the differences in culture I thought they were being overly generous and I think because they were trying to balance it so well uh they were trying to make sure it doesn't come off as a film about racial tension that is what that's what I saw but yeah I don't want to go deeper into that before I hear what you really enjoyed about this film Yeah. Um, no, lots to draw out of that short statement. Um, first of all, I just a personal note, I was really shocked when I went to South Africa to meet like workingass or like what we call in England like lowerass, not in a negative way, but like not middle, not upper class Indians in South Africa. And it was the first time I've been in Africa and seen like you know um South Asians uh who were not driving benzies who were not living in really expensive compounds and and they're just moving around in their slippers and eating street food and enjoying their lives as normal people and it was a really refreshing and b like eye opening about the nature of class in Africa and ethnicity. Okay.

[00:07:38]So, but where does it That's an incidental.

[00:07:40]>> Yeah. Before because that's interesting.

[00:07:42]Um, have you read Mam Dany's book? Uh, the new book >> Slow Poison.

[00:07:46]>> Slow Poison.

[00:07:47]>> I haven't and I'm embarrassed. It's been sitting on my desk for a week and I've not opened it yet, but I'm going to read it.

[00:07:53]>> So, no. So, a big part of the book is he puts Idiamin in this sort of uh point of view where to some Indians was a hero.

[00:08:02]you know the move to chase them out of out of Uganda was a good move for them because they were going to become you know the lower class you've mentioned uh most of them came as workers they were running out of a job uh because of their skin they were not fully accepted fully assimilated into society and uh you know they were broke the country was also like you know [ __ ] there were no opportunities in the country so when Amin decided to chase them out >> their status as refugees in in the UK and the US was much better according to this book. Yeah. Was much better. Yeah.

[00:08:34]And so when Manny was visiting some of those families in the US, >> some of them had like you know many how Indians have so many gods. Part of the gods was like a picture video man. He was like this [ __ ] saved us.

[00:08:46]>> That is news to me. I mean I think I'm not denying it. I think you know Mam Dani is a serious academic. I don't think he's making that up. But that is new to me. Um what was not new to me what is not new to me is the fact that the whole myth of idi mean expelling the Indians um has has has started to unravel uh for me my the moment where I realized that it wasn't as simple as all that was meeting uh a guy from the Ugandan air force who was part of the Israeli assault on NBI airport and he gave me a completely different view of the expulsion of the Asians where he said actually it was a Milton abote policy from much earlier from the '60s and it was building on the fact that a lot of Asians had made themselves unpopular as shopkeepers and bosses and over time the local Ugandans were getting pissed off with him with them and there was uh you know people were throwing stones at Indian shop windows and were having demonstrations about them and aotei was like being uh a Panaffrican sort of nationalist had said, "Look, Africa for Africans. These guys are no longer wanted here. Let's start to move them out." And he came up with this idea of like they had to choose Ugandan citizenship or Commonwealth citizenship.

[00:10:08]They can't have both. And then Armen essentially continued that policy but claimed it for himself in a kind of quite Armen way. And then he had to dramatize it with a big speech about I had a dream last night of Africa for Africans. And so that was my kind of wake up that actually this was not something that Armen decided to do on a whim.

[00:10:28]>> Yeah.

[00:10:28]>> Yeah. Yeah. Know I think from the book as well mentions a lot of influence from Amin's mother. Sam's mother was some sort of activist you know uh and how that influenced him first of all to join the British army because Sam was in the British army before uh independence and so on and so forth right and yeah you know like it sort of he put some some meat to the image because uh we have I think what we had over was the uh you know the films >> uh you know the rise and fall of video mean which was basically a ridicule and then also last king of Scotland which actually ended up getting like an Oscar, but it was a terrible film as well.

[00:11:06]Yeah, >> it's not a terrible film. I think it's a brilliant film personally, but I think the it perpetuates some of the worst parts of the Armenth. Um, but yeah, you mean thematically it gets it wrong?

[00:11:16]Yeah. But it's well made though.

[00:11:19]>> No, no. Yeah, of course. Technically, it's well made >> and the script's good. It's just wrong historically.

[00:11:25]>> Yeah. Um, yeah. Yeah. No. Uh, do you want to start?

[00:11:29]>> Well, I thought we'd started, but um >> No, no, no. I mean, uh, we've started.

[00:11:32]We're skirting around but this is all very relevant right because we're talking about uh a subtext here which is about ethnic relations in East Africa and although Uganda and Kenya are very different countries in many ways you know there are commonalities and as you pointed out earlier the idea of an upper class of Indians is is is common to both countries in many ways right now um why do I think this film is about class uh not apart from the obvious you kind of in the script stuff. I felt that it was reinforced throughout through certain images and at the beginning of the film it opens with um the heroine who's the like the two there are two heroins you know there's a good girl and a bad girl basically but they're both good but there's okay naughty girl uh the good girl who is a career focused chef um is there at the beginning of the film designing these like impeccable hoot cuisine like you know the most fancy pants, puddings, desserts imaginable.

[00:12:39]And that is the beginning of the film.

[00:12:41]It looks like an advert for a posh hotel. It sort of is, right? And someone comes in and it's like, oh, you know, will you spoil me with your dessert? And there's this idea of a woman who is able to create something worth worth beyond her social status. That's what I was seeing. And so she's in the service industry, but she's actually the artist who makes posh people posh, right? And so for me, there was a kind of nice subtext nod towards how class works. You have these brilliant, genius chefs who make posh people's lives posh.

[00:13:21]>> So who is really the one with class?

[00:13:24]It's of course it's the chef, right? And and the Indians in this film are presented as in some ways quite classy, but in other ways quite silly and crass and not competent and sometimes a bit, you know, they get stuff wrong.

[00:13:41]>> Where where is that?

[00:13:42]>> Where do they get stuff wrong?

[00:13:44]>> He So the boss who in a way could be conceived of as a bad guy who fires the mama maid um he gets it wrong. She's not the real thief. It's another member of the staff who is really stealing things. And he for me was presented as quite a sort of stupid and um you know an individual who's probably there cuz he inherited his wealth. And you get that impression a lot in the scenes with the young Indian people who are not very smart.

[00:14:13]They're not very street wise. They get everything wrong. They're easy to fool.

[00:14:18]They instantly distrust and fear local Kenyan youth because they see them as thieves or you know a threat as soon as they see them. They're kind of subtly mocked. I felt even the kind of love interest who is the closest well no he's not the closest thing to a hero but he is somehow a nice quasy heroic guy is a bit stupid. You know he's a bit dumb.

[00:14:42]He's a tourist. He's kind of coming into town, doesn't he? Can't read the signs and he's easy to cheat and and fool. I mean, they're not the Indians are not portrayed as particularly brilliant in this film.

[00:14:55]>> Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. No, I um so I didn't see from that perspective. I totally get why you'd see it from there, but um I blame that a little bit on the screenwriting. Uh so when the guy comes to see that something is missing from I think some of the jewelry I think cufflings or something is missing we see this other guard you know the gu the guy they end up framing right >> we see him there and he doesn't have to be there so already they're making us suspicious of him so even the shot you know the way they showed him is like that very soap opera shot of like right right so that I thought was the giveaway I just thought was like a the writing maybe isn't that good but the director understood what the writer meant. So they tried to show it.

[00:15:39]>> Uh but for me, I saw it. Again, the reason I'm not going to be so harsh on this film >> is because I think I understood what they were going for, >> right? It's a social media film. It's a a film for social media, right? I know it's a Netflix film and on Netflix, but you know, it starts with uh the the style of editing of like the swish swipes, right? That is so so social media like >> and Indian >> it's quite Indian >> by the way that's yeah maybe by either way now that's true that that could be true. Okay. So for me it just remind me of like uh Instagram right?

[00:16:16]So like okay this is social media and you know what you're saying of like uh usually hyper reals of like chefs cutting things that is also so social media >> like all like an advert you know TV advert. Yeah.

[00:16:29]>> Yeah. Same thing.

[00:16:30]>> Yeah. Yeah. Same thing basically. Yeah.

[00:16:32]So, okay. For me, when I saw that, I was like, maybe he wants to make a movie that has clippable moments. You know, like how we do a podcast and then we cut out like sound bites. He wanted a movie that people will cut clips out of because I mean that >> No, I I agree. I mean, I I'm sighing with with sadness at the human race.

[00:16:54]>> So, so yeah, for me that's the impression I get. Uh I feel like both sides a bit naive like I couldn't like you know what you're talking about where why I think again maybe it's a mistake with the writing what you're saying for example about uh Indians looking when the guy was firing her you know even the guard couldn't wait to listen to to like the reason right so you know if if there's someone fooling the other they fooled everyone they didn't just fool the Indians right and the fact that these these girls here came in and tricked the guard to enter and then they came back a second time and came to the party, right? Just shows that uh it was just lazy. The the writing was lazy to be honest. For me, I I felt like again the writing maybe wasn't that good, but the culture thing is the most beautiful part of the show.

[00:17:48]Yeah. It's not real. It's very idealistic, but it's idealistic in a way like you know.

[00:17:53]>> Go on. What do you mean culture thing?

[00:17:54]like they contrast with the cultures, right? So, uh first of all, uh they joke on the Indian. So, she comes wearing the sari the Indian clothes and then I think she does the Indian thing, right? Which is not offending the characters, right? So, the the writer sort of whatever the writer the producers have accepted that we're going to put this in as a joke. Yeah. And they understand that their audience will be okay with a joke that says something very good about what about the Indians in Kenya. You know if you made if you made a joke on Buganda culture like that if a white guy went and made a joke about say oh you know in a film we would come for you on Twitter right unless we are in on the joke right and that is what it felt like for me that this these guys are making the joke on the Indian culture but you know Indians are part of the filmmakers. Yeah. I don't I mean like you know I think the the essence of racism is like punching down and like so for you know an African you know a relatively poor character in an African film to be making fun of Indians it's not like the same as if they were making fun of white people or Chinese. It is it's punching up right. So it doesn't have the same kind of racial tension.

[00:19:17]But you're right. If I mean, imagine, you know, a white guy doing blackface and doing, you know, going to Aquula and making fun of Ugandan customs. Wow. I mean, finished.

[00:19:29]>> But but again, that's the thing is I feel like you can still make it in a way >> where it's clear within the joke that >> it's a friendly joke.

[00:19:38]>> Yes, it's a friendly joke. Right. And I feel like Okay, for me the movie didn't feel offensive.

[00:19:42]>> Not at all.

[00:19:43]>> Yeah. Even if I was like even if I was putting on my Indian head to to watch it. But but also the other thing is like this is how you assume people are going to be dressed at an Indian party.

[00:19:55]>> You come to the party >> and then everyone is dressed normal and you just weird, right? So I I thought that was Yeah. Yeah. I thought that I thought that was also like nice >> cuz they're wearing like off the shoulder sars and and they're quite nice sarries. They're not like >> uh funky new ones. They're kind of traditional with glittery bits, aren't they? Yeah. Yeah. Very nice.

[00:20:13]>> Yeah. So, so you know you come into the party and like okay we're just normal you know this is how you see us but we see ourselves as normal people I thought that was that was well done also the fact that the party has mostly black friends apart from the family mixed >> yes it's very mixed >> uh and it also sort of showed the class and because you know we we used to wonder this when we were growing up you know how come there are no like Indians at campus you know how come it's very rare to almost impossible to have any of your friends dating an Indian, right?

[00:20:45]You know, yeah, it's actually here in Uganda, it's possible to have like say if you have a like 10 friends, it's possible to have two friends dating a European >> or even an Asian, you know, like Chinese, but Indian, no, Arab, no, you know, that's almost impossible, right?

[00:21:01]>> I know. [laughter] >> Yeah. So, that's the thing we used to ask a lot because I remember in primary school, we used to have so many Indian, you know, like the kids and then I think at around a teenage age, they they take them back to India or something. I don't know where they go to to be honest. Uh but uh the film which I assume is the same in Kenya by the way.

[00:21:19]>> Is it what?

[00:21:19]>> I assume it's the same thing in Kenya.

[00:21:21]>> Same thing. Yeah. I'm not sure.

[00:21:22]>> Yeah. To be honest, I can Yeah, I can't be sure. But okay. The way I like the party, the setting of the party is they're showing maybe they're telling me that maybe you weren't rich enough. It wasn't about race, but if you were someone's son, then you'd have mingled with more Indians with that egg bracket, right?

[00:21:39]>> And uh because yeah, it's the same thing. I don't know any friends who are, you know, married to the first family or who are married to like the rich people, even if they're black, right? So, it's not really arresting. Okay, that's sort of the impression I got in the film. Um, I liked the the way Okay, I know it's idealistic. It's not like what I I imagine is real uh interaction between again from the few Indians I've interacted with, I see the contrast, but I liked the way the film wanted to make it seem >> normal, right? to even the romance angle within the film.

[00:22:11]>> It's there's nothing weird about it.

[00:22:12]>> Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. It's sort of they just play like it's so >> two good-looking people coming together.

[00:22:17]>> They're not it's not even mentioned.

[00:22:19]>> Yeah.

[00:22:19]>> Yeah. Yeah.

[00:22:20]>> So, yeah, I think those parts were fine.

[00:22:23]Uh they wanted to go for comedy.

[00:22:26]>> I think the clipable moments that are funny are there, but as a whole for me doesn't work as a funny film. Right.

[00:22:32]>> There was a couple of laugh out loud moments for me.

[00:22:35]>> Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. No, I agree. I agree.

[00:22:36]I totally agree. Yeah. There are some moments, but again, for me, they they work best if I see a clip on Tik Tok.

[00:22:42]>> Yeah.

[00:22:43]>> By itself, it makes me laugh, but I I've not seen like I didn't see a joke that's well set up that then I go and see and sort of it has a >> what you mean. Yeah. Well, before we go into that, because I think the comedy angle has got a number of things to say, but I just wanted to pick up on a couple of points you made about the racial dynamics or the ethnic dynamics.

[00:23:04]So, first of all, it's been a long time since I lived in Kenya, but it's coming back to me a bit now. Actually, I found the party scene there quite natural in term of the mi in terms of the mix. And you've probably been to I mean, you've been to Nairobi many times. And do you remember like in parts of Westlands, there's like certain clubs where it really is very multiethnic.

[00:23:26]And um one of my favorite clubs, Alchemist, got kind of taken over by Indians. Not in a bad way, they just made it their place. And there was a crossover period while I was there where yeah, you find a lot of Indian people and it was really mixed up. And like some of my best friends in Kenya are like Indian guys who are into reggae and dub and they set up a sound system. And these guys have like zero like ethnic lenses, you know, they really are very open-minded people like us, you know, they're just normal people and they don't look at the world in terms of class. And maybe Tosh Kitonga also is pretty chilled about that stuff as well.

[00:24:03]You know, he's an international guy. He worked with German film companies and he's probably traveled a lot to festivals. He's probably very international. And so for him, this film maybe came naturally. It wasn't anything weird about having a house party at an Indian house where black people are welcome. Um, I was very upset there were no white people though. No, I'm joking.

[00:24:23]I'm joking. I didn't mind. No, I'm teasing. [laughter] But um but just yeah what I thought that they actually did explore that dynamic in a kind of gentle way and we've touched on this already but one of the subplots is that the naughty girl out of the two burglars uh has friends who like are on the jaba stages right so they're these like areas where people hang around and chew mirror you know cats sometimes called cat the chewing her is a stimulant it's basically a drug, but it's a tolerated drug, a bit like weed, but it instead of knocking you out or making you relax like weed, it makes you hyper, makes you want to dance, you chat. So, I I actually thought it makes people dull. I I remember at university, I used to stay at a place that had so many Kenyans.

[00:25:14]>> Yeah.

[00:25:14]>> And yeah, that was their life basically.

[00:25:17]Just chew that thing, smoke weed, and >> Yeah. I mean, if you smoke weed with it, it's like a seesaw. you come up, you know, come up on the on the mirror and come down on the weed and you but but so you know, so this sub subplot is these like guys, you can call them thugs or goons or whatever who like basically hang around chewing mirror and the naughty girl calls them up for backup.

[00:25:40]like she's at the house, things are going wrong, she needs backup, and she calls them in. And these guys turn up at the house and she's basically told them it's an open party, you can just come on in. And they hustle their way past the security guard and the security guard is somehow allows himself. Oh yeah, he recognizes one of them. I thought that was quite funny as well. He's like, "BRIO, LIKE, YO, my bro." And the idea there is that it doesn't matter how much you pay your security guard if he recognizes one of the thieves from his village, he's going to let them in. So that's an example of a little everyday touch of humor in the film that I liked.

[00:26:19]Okay, but back to this ethnic mix. So yeah, they're all dancing away in the house party and the the the guys who chew mirror, they call it Jaba in Kenya.

[00:26:30]These Jaba chewing guys are there and the music's a bit whack. It's kind of they're playing EDM or some Spice Girls or something and the Jabber guys are like, "No, let's have some real music and they put on some geneton and they start g you know grinding and all of that and the whole vibe of the party improves and all of the Indians who originally have been a bit paranoid that these Jaba guys are like going to rob them and the next minute they're all dancing and you know rather like um you know this is like the flip side of sinners, Right. So in when we reviewed Sinners, you know, I was um arguing probably wrongly according to all the feedback online that this is a film that is promoting a form of segregation. I still think it is. And this film um Toshkonga's um inside job is promoting a form of racial harmony, ethnic harmony, and part of that message is through music. We can come together, we can dance together. Doesn't matter if you're a jaba junkie from Eastley or if you're a Indian you aristocrat from Parklands.

[00:27:38]You can all come together and grind and have fun and just have a drink and enjoy yourselves. I like that message and and I like that about the film. It was just a feel-good film and you know we've already been discussing some of the historical tensions about Asians in Africa. This is the film that throws all that out the window and goes, "Let's have fun." Yeah.

[00:27:57]Let's just have fun. Yes. Yes. And it has the scene where they're doing the typical Bollywood film of dancers.

[00:28:03][laughter] >> Yeah. No.

[00:28:04]>> You mean the credit sequence?

[00:28:06]>> No, no, no. In the mid there's I think they want the swimming pool. It's somewhere in the middle of the film where like the girls are dancing.

[00:28:12]>> Yes. Yes.

[00:28:14]>> Yeah. I mean, yeah, I think >> Yeah, >> some of that worked.

[00:28:19]>> Yeah. But now let's talk about the stuff that >> one more thing. The Bollywood the Bollywood dance at the end.

[00:28:25]>> Good. Yeah. Yeah. So this >> that was great. It was nice.

[00:28:28]>> Yeah.

[00:28:29]>> Yeah.

[00:28:29]>> I mean that's also good about a movie that ends and reminds you that hey you're watching a movie by either way, you know. That's >> it's like a stage musical, you know. So yeah, th those are like a number of things I liked. And then there was one other sight like visual gag that stayed with me that made me laugh out loud. So the it's not a spoiler, but uh there's a scene early on where they're planning the heist, right? and they're planning it to such an extent that you see it happening. I like I like that idea. It was fun. It was like here's how the heist should happen. And you know, I've seen that before in other movies, but because this is a comedy, it was done with some little good visual gags. And my favorite visual gag, a very simple one, is that the naughty girl is wearing quite a sexy, tight fitting black kind of onesie kind of she's a b wearing a burglar onesie and a mask. And around her burglar costume, she's wearing a belly chain on top of the burglar costume. And it was so in keeping with her character is this cheeky sexy girl.

[00:29:30]It really made me laugh. It really got me. And I, you know, whether that was Toshkonger or someone in the costume department, stroke a genius. And it's little details in this film that that charmed me. And if I'm, and this is the end of my praise poem, this film is charming and silly. Okay. And almost throughout the film, you can use that to describe what's good about it. It's silly and charming. It doesn't take itself seriously, but it's full of little touches that sort of charm you into its world. And if you if you really want to take it seriously as a serious work of film art. Yeah. I mean, it's a silly film. You said earlier it's a social media film basically. Sure. So, right, where do we begin on the takedown?

[00:30:15]>> Yeah. Um I think the writing uh this is I think uh we should rename the podcast to higher writers podcast because almost every film we are criticizing the writing. I think it's too light, you know. There's no reason why I have to care about anything in the film almost, right?

[00:30:34]>> It's uh too light. The the actual opening scene of like uh getting this lady fired, that's fine.

[00:30:43]If you suspect them to be stealing, that's fine. If they've been working for you for so many years, the way they established it, you suspect them to be stealing, but then why refuse to pay them the pension, right? So, we don't justify that. We just now verify. It's lazy. sort of like the boss is a villain. You know, it's one thing to fire someone uh you know, like if you've worked me, you know, most people in Uganda have grown up with maids. If the maid has raised your kids to the extent that they're in school now, even if they steal from you once, right? By the time you've had that relationship is strong enough, even if you're convinced that they're stealing, you won't take that extra step of like firing them, right?

[00:31:18]>> Or if you do, it's really it's really hard.

[00:31:21]>> Yeah. Firing you won't deny them their pension or something like that, right?

[00:31:24]And he probably shed a tear.

[00:31:26]>> Yeah. I mean that for me, yeah, it seems so impersonal in a way that >> sort of throws away the the premise they're trying to set up.

[00:31:34]>> Uh so that I think uh is one thing. The other thing also is the two girls.

[00:31:41]>> Okay. I felt like their their relationship the both of them it was they show their characteristics how they are contrasting themselves >> but I didn't get enough of their relationship >> to to enjoy the film. the way I wanted to sort of Okay, so you know it's clear when they show the naughty one with a big with a very old sponsor who can't even hold the car.

[00:32:02]>> That was funny though. Come on.

[00:32:04]>> I mean some that stuff was good. The the social media stuff, you know, that stuff was so well done. But okay. No, I mean we see them and then we see this one who takes us off slightly more serious and uh the relationship, you know, even when they go into the haste, so they divide.

[00:32:20]One goes into the kitchen to do the cooking and the other, you know, goes into gets caught up in the in the romance. Yeah.

[00:32:28]>> Yeah.

[00:32:29]>> But I would have liked because that was the core of the film.

[00:32:32]>> I would have liked to to sort of have the tension contrast within themselves, right? So maybe one coming to save, one disappointing another. you know a typical like okay maybe Hollywood has talked so much but there would have been some conflict >> amongst them >> that puts the haste >> uh that makes >> oh that that puts the heist at risk >> like one of them's going to go too far like she is going to steal like the wedding ring of the wife and then the other one's like you can't do that I see what you mean yeah >> so yeah uh I think >> they didn't exploit that >> yeah they did they didn't they didn't okay I know they wanted to make a silly the film.

[00:33:11]>> Yeah, >> but it still would have mattered if you actually cared a little bit about the people, right? But I feel like they lost that dimension of like adding a little bit of conflict that's going to make us sort of anticipate what would happen in the future to the fact that it's a moment film. You know, you watch a scene, you laugh, you go ion, come back, just continue with where you found it.

[00:33:35]You don't have to rewind because you've not really missed anything. That is how it how it felt. Yeah. with the rating and I thought they would have improved that with rating.

[00:33:42]>> Interesting. I mean piecing together different things you've said one okay one you were talking about like the unrealistic nature of the boss who fires the maid then you're talking about how the characters even the main characters are not painted in three dimensions there sort of almost ciphers for the heist plot to move through and so on. It feels to me like you're basically saying the characters are not deep or convincing. And at the core, a comedy or a horror or an action or a drama has to have convincing characters or whatever they're trying to do doesn't work. The horror won't scare you, the action won't thrill you, the drama won't make you cry, and the comedy won't make you laugh because you don't care. Is that what you're saying?

[00:34:28]>> Yes.

[00:34:29]>> It's very harsh.

[00:34:30]>> Yeah. I mean, I know. I know. I know. I know. I know. I I Yeah. I I think >> I'm not saying you're wrong.

[00:34:35]>> No, no, no. Yeah, but I think that but even the stakes, right?

[00:34:39]>> So, you do the haste >> you robbed, they managed to frame this guy, you know, and then it seems like the Indian who fired a maid for for who has been a maid for all these years doesn't really care about his stuff because the money they end up stealing and taking to their home, he doesn't bother about that, right? Yeah. There are no consequences. Again, this is also a thing we've talked about a lot, right?

[00:35:01]uh your the haste is not dangerous if it has no consequences, right? Because the whole point of making a haste uh the scent of the film is because you want us to feel the danger of the haste, you know, it's not like an entertainment haste, right? The haste is so to hold some weight in it. But when you steal and then there are no consequences.

[00:35:18]Yeah. You steal and even end up stealing someone's heart as well at the end.

[00:35:21]>> Well, that she gets tied up, doesn't she? One of them get gets caught stealing and and tied up. Or did you go and do the ironing in that?

[00:35:29]>> No, no, no. So, so I I and I saw that. I saw that, but uh again because I already suspected that this guy was the thief.

[00:35:36]The way they set up the introduction scene, I I I didn't think that was >> Oh, no. You're told he's a thief basically cuz >> Yeah. But but also they actually end up stealing. So this is your quote up stealing. That is in between the haste, you know, but you end up succeeding. You end up stealing. Yeah.

[00:35:53]>> And I would have liked to be some sense of sacrifice there, you know, some a little bit of heaviness. Right.

[00:36:00]>> Right.

[00:36:01]>> Like in terms of emotional rhythm.

[00:36:03]>> Yes. If if Yes. Exactly. If that built on the romance itself, right? If that built on the romance, made us root for it >> and then broken our hearts at the end.

[00:36:12]>> Yeah.

[00:36:12]>> I think that also would have worked, right? Because then you come and find out with money like oh [ __ ] >> I'm not. And then >> and there was zero attention. He you know, oh so you stole from us. It doesn't matter. I still no problem.

[00:36:24]>> Let's go on and just show it's Yeah, for me it was too late. That's what I feel like. I feel like they should have >> Yeah, >> they should have tried to write a good story. Basically, they should have read a story with some stakes.

[00:36:35]>> It It lacked depth. It lacks stakes.

[00:36:38]Yeah. I mean, so, you know, let's come back again to who these films are for and why people might like to watch them.

[00:36:45]I think if someone's watching is choosing to watch this film because they just want a like light entertainment, I think it works really well. And as I say, for me that's my summary statement of this film is charming but silly.

[00:36:58]Yeah. Or silly but charming. Yeah. It's like the positive side of it is it's full of quirky fun touches. The downside of it is that it's essentially a lightweight film as you say that does has more plot holes than substance and is just there to basically entertain you in the background. I however found that the charm was considerable. So I liked the main actresses. I like looking at them on screen and not I mean not not just they're good-looking. I also thought they were good you know they were good actresses. They they tick the boxes and I found like the security guard funny. I found uh I don't know. I mean, I thought like the lead Indian, the romantic lead uh the male Indian guy was sort of charming as well, you know.

[00:37:44]I was sort of charmed by it. But you're right. This isn't a film that makes you go away and think. It's a film that just passes the time, right? But but also um you see, you think about a film, right?

[00:37:57]And you know like today you think about a film on Netflix and wondering uh do I make a film that people can watch while the attention is competing with something else >> you know and the question is how do I make a film like that and then if you're going to end up making a film like uh inside job what happens is if I get a phone call in the middle of that film >> and I have to walk out say maybe I get a phone call that day something is missing and I have to go to the shop get milk and come back I'm probably going to watch something else right because the film is not investing in me. It's not I'm not getting invested in the film rather right when I'm watching it's that moment I'm I'm I'm I'm entertained but as soon as something else takes a my mind away I'm not so I'm not invested enough to remember to come back that is what I think about the film you know it doesn't have again that's the beauty of the weight is you know you're watching maybe a kidnap film uh in the middle they've kidnapped someone you want to know if they died or not so you can go buy milk and do whatever you're doing >> but you still remember yeah exactly you need this yeah this because actually you can stuff and come back and and and I think that that's a thing also that >> I keep telling this that there's now Tik Tok you know if you want to watch something late you'll watch you'll scroll through an hour of Tik Tok watching random stuff right you can do that if you want to make movies you know we're talking here that I think film is dead to be honest I think uh this is the the bell c is going down this is the real last days of film and the reason is the filmmaker doesn't have to exist.

[00:39:32]Yeah. You have a story, you start from there, you know, you don't start with a career. You don't start with a role, you know. Uh I think also AI is going to change most of this actually not not even just for film but initially you're trained from you know from you know you start with primary schooling where you get the basics you go into secondary school you start specialize a little bit you go to university you narrow down maybe you do a mast's and maybe you take on like a research in AP or something like that right but you're sort of funneling down like this right uh but today with AI You have to want to do something fast, right? Maybe you can learn the basics.

[00:40:14]You learn how to write, you learn how to count and all that stuff, but uh I imagine my kids, they will not have to go and take a course in European history, right? They will not take a course in software engineering. No, no.

[00:40:29]All lawyers in Uganda have taken a course in European history. They know a lot about Hitler, right? This is all nonsense, right? It is. Yes. There's so many controversial statements.

[00:40:39]>> No, no, but but the thing is Yeah. The thing is >> not about European history being nonsense, but why why do we not have to learn European history anymore or African history?

[00:40:47]>> Yes. Or African history. The thing is you don't have to know usually you're broadening your base to make sure that you can fit within one of the multiple functions available. Right? So if you want to be a teacher, it will be nice if you can teach European history which is cyclic. You know, if you want to be a lawyer, for example, it will be nice if you can learn from the lessons of it. I don't know how you can learn from those.

[00:41:07]Right. If you want to be uh >> I mean I I kind of get what you're saying but I I don't quite understand the process because the point of about learning something is to internalize it so that your mind develops and you are able to learn the the the lessons of a particular period. It's not just about having access to knowledge.

[00:41:28]>> No no no not to school. At least not not for me how I was learning in school. If it was about internalizing stuff, I wouldn't have learned like 90% of the stuff I was taught. Everything you're taught is to learn enough to be examined. So to pass the exam, and the point of passing that exam is to prove that you have the competence to perform a specific function, right?

[00:41:49]>> I think it's more than that.

[00:41:50]>> No, no, no, no, no, no. I think >> No. Okay. But for many people, yeah, they're only going to learn enough to pass the exam. But for a significant minority, it's going to have an impact on them that will resonate later in their life. For example, let's take the example of Hitler. Okay? So, you're forced to learn about Hitler, you don't know why, age 14, 15. And then a few years later, something happens. Let's say the country you're living in, I can't imagine where this would be, but becomes a dictatorship. Can't imagine where that would be. And you start to notice patterns and you're reminded of the lessons that you learned when you were growing up. And it kind of it chimes, it echoes and you could have one reaction or another but the point I'm making is there is a kind of knowledge foundation that school provides you know but and let's tie this into film now.

[00:42:40]>> Yeah. Yeah. Okay. So first of all to say this that uh language learning language that's useful uh learning mathematics which mathematics in a way is an extension of language very useful right everything else >> you got google translate you got a calculator so I think I think math and calculator is different the math and calculator doesn't do math a calculator does not do math yeah >> uh so language basically if you learn language math if you cause the math part of language That's all you need to be taught because it has like fundamentals of like okay I think what we call civilization is evolution of language that this is not very it doesn't make a lot of sense yeah but that's what I think you know I think you know you see buildings and what and what is it sort of like advances in specific language right >> sure language is part of civilization I'll accept that statement >> I think language is all of civilization okay that again we don't have to talk about that yes but my point is uh outside language. Everything else you're taught is to fix you into some sort of specialization, right? Yes. So you can perform a role.

[00:43:48]>> Okay.

[00:43:49]>> But today this changes because you can just prompt that specialization, right? So if you wanted to and this is where AI is going, by the way, it's not yet there now, but give it a year, right? If you wanted to uh to if you're sick for example, you know, you have a cough and you have a flu and whatn not, you're going to get a place where you point your phone in your face.

[00:44:17]It takes your temperature. It sort of measures the stress on your face and it will tell you that uh you have malaria uh you have to do this and this and this today, you have to do that and that today. That is definitely going to happen. You know, most people think AI is going to replace doctors by chatting, telling the doctor what your symptoms are. No, it's going to be the multimodal stuff. The camera is going to be able to tell, right? So, that is a whole, you know, your kid now doesn't have to learn to be a doctor because that knowledge is compressed. It's the same thing with film making, right? It's the same thing with film making. Today you spend uh about 5 years if you want to be a very good filmmaker in school learning the basics of film making right so when you leave after 5 years even if you really have no story to tell you're going to do films because you're sort of required to do them as a filmmaker it's sort of like a role it's an identity you've taken on you know you are Dave you're a filmmaker and hence you have to make films right and so you end up with inside job you know a film about Nothing. Okay. That's a bit harsh. I agree. Yeah. But so you end up with a lot of the shitty films, right?

[00:45:30]>> What alternatively could be is I am doing my own thing. You know, for example, I don't know what people are going to be doing. You know, people don't have jobs, right? The idea of jobs doesn't exist anymore. So I don't know what will people people will be doing.

[00:45:45]But then like I'm bored. But I'm like, you know what would be a good uh story to tell is about being bored today, right? And then you put the tools together to make this film a film about something. No, no. I'm saying >> you can I mean if you really feel a good film about Yes. So that's what I'm saying is what we have today is >> um >> technically trained people.

[00:46:13]>> Yes. trying to forgetting that uh they're in the business of telling stories. You know, this is not engineering, right? And uh >> the the truth is the threshold for stories for people is low. Like people can't live without food. People can't live without water. But for stories, people can live with the very very least. You know, people can read the Bible. We're talking about the Bible.

[00:46:33]People can read the Bible and have their lives about reading the Bible, right?

[00:46:37]>> So if you want to tell stories, >> you're producing a luxury good. It has to have it has to be worth that luxury in terms of time even even if it's not just money right for me to give you one hour and a half.

[00:46:50]>> Yeah.

[00:46:51]>> You have to charm you know inside job char.

[00:46:53]>> So so you're basically this long and fascinating um discourse about development of civilization artificial intelligence. You're saying the story is crap in inside job.

[00:47:03]>> Yes. Yes. The story is crap. But I'm saying generally the reason why >> I'm saying there's no excuse for it.

[00:47:08][laughter] The reason why stories are crap is we have these people who claim to be filmmakers who feel like they've been burdened by the responsibility of making films for us. We do not want their films. People should don't People shouldn't make films unless they have stories to tell. We are not hungry for film. That is the truth.

[00:47:29]>> We're hungry for stories.

[00:47:31]>> Yes, we want to watch innovative stories. That is what we want. Don't redo the same story with your camera and your name on it as a director. We don't want that.

[00:47:39]>> There's a subtext to what you just said as well, which is that you've got all these very technically skilled people with good equipment and and a good knowledge of how to use it, especially a growing body of people like that in Kenya, in Nigeria, South Africa, etc. And um but and you got growing access to that tech and training in all over the world, right? But you're saying that doesn't equal good films. That's just like good technique. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah, I get I I I get what you're saying and I mean in a way this is a variation on a conversation we've had about other other films, right? And interestingly, a friend of mine whose research is AI and film said to me the other day, "You're lucky, Dave, because you're one of the last people to lose your job cuz I'm a script writer and uh and a producer to some extent." and he said, you know, we're going to need script writers and producers to the very end, but pretty much all the other jobs might well get more and more um machineized and in and automated in various ways. I'm not so sure that's true. Um I mean, that's a conversation perhaps we can develop in another context, but that seems to be what you're saying. And you're saying unfortunately this film falls down because the story is just not it's flimsy. I mean I at this point I think it's a good having had I I genuinely I'm not saying this sarcastically I find the way you approach this very interesting and I think you're opening up a whole vista beyond this review of inside job into like what is the purpose of film I'd like to conclude at this point that I feel I was entertained by inside job I didn't go and do the ironing yet I didn't watch it gripped in the same way as like I watched American gangster last night just rewatched it for like the 10th time and and I did I was doing the ironing. I was cooking. I was falling asleep waking up. But my god, it's such a good film. American Gangster for me is a great film. And the first couple of times I watched American Gangster, I you know, I was inside the film. I was, you know, deeply inside the film. I never got inside inside job in the same way.

[00:49:50]it it doesn't as you said it doesn't really have the depths but for me I didn't mind because it made me laugh it made me and it made us talk earlier about ethnic relations right it had something to say about that it has something to say about social mobility and class in today's Kenya as a historical document people could look back on this and go yeah it's a it's a piece of its time it it captures the zeitgeist in some to some extent no not for you but I think >> now this Does it survive history?

[00:50:21]>> It No, it's not a time I'm not saying it's a timeless film. I don't think it sets out to be, but I think it somehow captures, like you said, it's a social media film, right? And for me, that makes it an article of this moment. Not necessarily a deep one, not necessarily a timeless one. Maybe it's a plastic bangle, right, that someone finds later, but I don't think it's worthless. And I would recommend it to certain people who just want some relaxing giggle. Charming but silly.

[00:50:52]>> I mean, if you want to watch a Kenyan film on Netflix, why not watch that one?

[00:50:56]Other than that, there's a lot more Netflix to watch, you know.

[00:50:59]>> Are there any other good films on Netflix that you've seen?

[00:51:01]>> Uh, Kenyan films.

[00:51:02]>> No, no, no. Just if you want to watch film, again, if you're going to watch the mind if it's Kenya, >> let's come. Okay, let's briefly. What do you think? How do you think it compares to Nairobi Halflife which it you know same director Tosh Kitonga >> Nairobi Halflife had a story to it.

[00:51:16]>> Yeah.

[00:51:16]>> Yeah.

[00:51:17]>> So I think the comparison there is different because Nairobi Halfife there is something the film is about you know it's trying to say something. It's sort of an important film to do the statement basically.

[00:51:29]>> Also about class interesting.

[00:51:30]>> Yeah. Yeah. Also about class. Yeah.

[00:51:32]Class crime you know it say Nairobi is saying something. It has a story and it's saying something. This one is we've secured this funding. We've secured partnership with these Indians. What can we do with it? You know, to be honest, this is how it feels. Yeah. We have this very good guy at Netflix who has promised that whatever we do, they're going to screen it on Netflix. When do we start this? They don't start with a story. It's not gonga coming. Oh my god, guys. I've always wanted to tell this story. I remember when I was at this party, it's worth a big story. No, it doesn't start there. It starts with we've secured all the technical requirements. What can we do with it?

[00:52:05]Yeah, it's engineered basically. Cool.

[00:52:07]So, I mean, um, would would you recommend it to anyone?

[00:52:13]>> Yeah, I mean, it's if you find yourself watching it the way I did because we had to review it.

[00:52:18]>> Yeah, >> I think you can watch it. I don't see No, but okay. Yeah, I to be honest, I would. Yes, I would. I would recommend it. I >> Who would you recommend it to? They they portrayed the uh especially to my Indian friends, they portrayed the Indian culture >> blending within Africa seamlessly. I like that part. So >> if I'm to recommend it, I would recommend to my Indian friends. Yes.

[00:52:41]>> And what would you give it out of 10?

[00:52:43]>> I'll give it five because I have to recommend it. Yeah.

[00:52:46]>> Yeah. That's um Heath the Joker's standard. She says like if it's five or above it's like recommendable. And um there's something we forgot to mention is that I think you we were talking earlier about Indians and Africans mingling in in Uganda. The most famous example of that is Zoran Mamani. So when Zoran was in Uganda a few years ago and I kind of I didn't know him but like we moved in the same circles and I remember he he hung out effortlessly without you know without blinking or thinking with lots of black Africans. He he's a nice guy and it's a film. It's a Zoran film.

[00:53:25]>> Film. Yeah, I think. [laughter] Yeah, I clearly found a date. We should investigate that.

[00:53:29]>> Zoran, you're way deeper than this film.

[00:53:31]Now, it came across really badly, but it's it's it's a film for me that like says a lot in a very light way, right?

[00:53:40]So, it says stuff about class, it says stuff about ethnicity, it makes lots of jokes, and it has this running social commentary, but you're right. It's incredibly light as as >> actually I think the opposite. I think it doesn't say anything, you know. It doesn't say anything about class. It doesn't say anything about ethnicity. It sort of like >> it touches on them, but it doesn't say anything.

[00:54:00]>> Tells you there's something to say here, but it won't be it won't be me who says it, you know.

[00:54:04]>> Sure. Well, in a way, you know, we don't always need heavy films. So, I would I would recommend this film for like really light viewing. You know, if you're sick, you can't mentally process a lot like you're ill. I don't mean sick as in psychotic. I don't. You'd have to be a very strange kind of psycho to like this film. But yeah, like I'm going to give it a six and 6.3 because I thought it is nice to look at as a film. Um, the charming leads entertain me. There were lots of little jokes I liked in it. Charming but silly.

[00:54:39]6.3 out of 10.

[00:54:41]>> Yeah. You know, if I was uh one of the producers on this film, the best move for this film is they should cut it into clips >> and put it on Tik Tok.

[00:54:49]>> Sure. Good idea.

[00:54:50]>> They'll get a billion views cuz this is uh Tik Tok content. It's not uh film theater stuff. It's >> not a serious film, kids.

[00:54:57]>> Yeah.

[00:54:57]>> A AI is going to render this kind of film irrelevant soon. That's your verdict. I'm not so sure. Anyway, thanks for watching,