Love Comes Unexpectedly In ‘Umjolo There Is No Cure’

 

Thoko (Londeka Sishi) and Liana (Busisiwe Msthali) take the long route towards love in Mthunzi Dubazana’s Umjolo There Is No Cure. DP: Tiyane Nyembe.

Hell breaks loose when Thoko Duma, South Africa’s out and proud reigning Beauty Queen disrespects newly crowned Miss Kenya on the radio. With Thoko’s queendom revoked and endorsements disappearing, she has no other choice but to crash at her agent Buhle’s roomy, posh apartment. 

Buhle (Tina Redman) and Thoko’s professional relationship has an easy going edge. They act more sisterly than client/agent. DP: Tiyane Nyembe.

Thoko wants to save her reputation throwing out ideas that’ll make the public be on her side again— a reality TV show and writing a memoir. Buhle stands in her client’s corner one hundred percent on most matters (like giving her girl a home). Thoko and Buhle are both proud queer women whose strong relationship has a sweet, tender vibe that’s great to see outside of the stereotypical graphic violence depicted towards lesbians. Buhle encourages Thoko to branch out, promising to save her from the unfortunate mess. 

Liana Ndluvo runs Black Books. DP: Tiyane Nyembe.

Liana nervously looking over the luxurious place she’s built. She’s the kind of writer who prefers to hide under a shroud of mystery than entertain the public eye for even a second. DP: Tiyane Nyembe.

On the opposite spectrum, noted romance author and Black Books owner Liana Ndluvo thrives on anonymity. No one knows what she looks other than her overbearing mother and best friend Zweli, musician, visual artist, and main Black Books employee. Unlike Satin’s tightly packed, eye enchantment bookshop depicted in Water in a Broken Glass, Liana’s Black Books is an airy paradise. Spacious surroundings, books pushed against walls, strategically placed tables, comfortable chairs, and sporadic plants entice inhabitants to relax and linger for a while. Black business owners often employ individualized models that venture beyond a singular purpose. For example, Satin’s bookstore shows art and offers custom framing whereas Liana includes a complete cafe experience serving beverages and desserts like butterscotch cake and cookies. 

Liana is grateful for Thoko’s thoughtful encouragement. DP: Tiyane Nyembe.

At the planned book signing in her own shop, Liana’s panic attack causes her to flee from the fans waiting to finally meet their favorite anonymous author. Anxiety and shyness mixed together with social interaction amps up an all-too believable fear. A chance encounter with a woman who’ll eventually change her life makes Liana feel much better. 

And that woman is Thoko. 

Zweli is the nonjudgmental support system that Liana needs. DP: Tiyane Nyembe.

When Zweli interferes into Liana’s plans, she decides to take on another identity Nana, Liana’s personal assistant, secretly accommodating Thoko’s wish to have her favorite author pen her memoir. Thoko doesn’t question Liana’s holed story, doesn’t bring up that in their impromptu meeting Liana claims to be saddened over “Liana not showing.” Now she’s the assistant to the woman she was upset over? Thoko wasn’t caring about addressing the facts at all. Perhaps the instant attraction blinded Thoko to consider Nana being Liana. 

Thoko spends a lot of time with researcher “Nana.” A sweet connection forms, blossoming into more than “Nana” taking notes for Thoko’s memoir. DP: Tiyane Nyembe.

Still, Liana may be a writer, but she’s a terrible liar. 

Naturally, as the polar opposite ladies chat, they find themselves feasting on each other’s company. The timid Liana surprisingly opens up authentic parts that were locked during her blind dates with sketchy men. Thoko also lets down her guarded tendencies, very much receptive to breaking the quiet girl out of her shell— and yes that means karaoke singing and attending soirées together. 

Accidentally eating edibles upsets a shaky balance.  

While Liana’s silly taste of truth serum aka humiliating side effects gradually wear off, Thoko should have used that momentum to investigate who owned Black Books. Thoko is hurt by Liana’s rejection, robbing her of intuitiveness. Too many coincidences regarding Liana to ignore, especially an outburst speaking volumes. Yet, Thoko thinks nothing of it, instead falling right into Chef Sindi’s spiderweb, turning a slow burning romance into full-fledged soap opera territory. 

Sindi pulls out all stops on her grand schemes, preying on Thoko’s innermost weakness for reinventing her tarnished image. DP: Tiyane Nyembe.

Sindi and Thoko share a romantic nighttime boat ride. DP: Tiyane Nyembe.

Chef Sindi has a more loving relationship to her phone than Thoko, pulling extreme gestures from a love bomber’s playbook. She milks the social media for all it can offer her, gleefully relaying that her posts with Thoko receives the most views and comments. Thoko allows it in her desperate attempts to get back into society’s good graces, manufacturing a good image to prove she’s no longer a bratty mean-spirited woman. Behind Thoko’s defeated eyes reveals a desire for something more real. 

The charged confrontation scene between Thoko and Liana leaves a bitter aftertaste. Liana shows backbone at last, but she also has a hypocritical hand to play, rejecting Thoko a second time. 

The universe forcing Thoko to read Liana’s novel “Never Look Back…” DP: Tiyane Nyembe.

as Liana finishes up ghostwriting Thoko’s memoir. DP: Tiyane Nyembe. 

Meanwhile, a cried out Liana finishes her assignment and resumes dating men, even returning to the first red flag first date. Liana treads backward despite her words to Zweli on giving up Thoko without really fighting for a chance. It goes back to her awkwardness, her terrifying insecurity. She convinces herself to hide behind heteronormative narrative as opposed to living in queerness, essentially mimicking a fabricated character she creates. 

Thoko and Liana’s kiss— a first for Liana— was a letdown when compared to Thoko and Sindi. DP: Tiyane Nyembe.

Among generic misunderstandings and obvious half-truths, the other downside to Umjolo There Is No Cure lies in its buildup to a potentially epic romance as wonderful as Rafiki and Pure. Liana was practically the Black girl response to the poorly aged classic Never Been Kissed, our modern-day twist to Josie Gellar, also a writer/journalist. Instead the film leaves us with two chaste pecks after Sindi and Thoko’s hot and heavy passion burned through the silver screen. Was that to suggest Liana’s virtuousness must remain intact regardless of whom she finally chooses to love? That viewers must use their vivid imagination to wonder how deep Liana and Thoko’s bond grows offscreen? This is not to say that the film owes an explicitly sexually charged moment. It needed to offer a worthwhile end to Liana’s pent up desires, to show a satisfying conclusion to her character arc. There were missed opportunities to close this important chapter with a deeper, meaningful wrap up to Liana and Thoko’s journey. 

Zweli advises Liana to go after what she wants— and be honest about her feelings. DP: Tiyane Nyembe.

Buhle— who has gone beyond for her client and friend— has no hard feelings about Thoko’s decisions on her career path. DP: Tiyane Dyembe. 

A pleasant highlight about Mthunzi Dubazana's directional effort based on Thuli Zuma’s screenplay, Umjolo There Is No Cure pays attention to genuine friendship foundation, showing why these specific pairings exist. The counterbalanced friendships lend a constant ongoing salve against the blossoming romantic drama— Zweli and Liana and Buhle and Thoko give the storyline enough humor and integrity to keep it fresh, not as stale as it could have been. Zweli knows Liana inside and out, her pleasure for writing and selling books, making tea to console her, and listening to her sensitive troubles sans negativity. When she has her crash outs, he’s always there in her corner offering diligent care and support, proving that men can be a woman’s companion without the bartering for an indecent incentive. 

Liana, the most dedicated Black woman writer in film. DP: Tiyane Nyembe.

Overall, Liana and Thoko’s radiant cuteness beautifully portrayed by actresses Bisisime Msthali and Londeka Sishi, the amazing soundtrack, the lovable side characters—wise wingman Zweli and humorous wingwoman Buhle, and the hairstyles and costumes (even the extras were stylish) makes for an uncomplicated rewatch.