Necktie Youth (Sibs Shongwe La-Mer 2015): South Africa | Netherlands

Reviewed by Cameron Krul. Viewed at the AFI Fest 2015.

Necktie Youth is a South African film directed by Sibs Shongwe La-Mer that depicts a raw, unique, and captivating story of the upper middle class post apartheid youth living in the suburbs of Johannesburg. The story is anchored by the abrupt suicide of a young woman named Emily who was a friend of Jabz, and September (the two  main characters). The movie shows a day in the life of the two best friends as they “flex” through their posh suburbs while popping pills, drinking alcohol, and partying are thrown into the mix. The film also shows the perspectives of other characters throughout the course of the day which rotate throughout the film.

Emily’s suicide takes place on June 16, 2013.The same date as Youth Day, a national public holiday in South Africa commemorating lives lost in the Soweto uprising of 1976, when students rioted in response to the injustices of the apartheid education system. Nearly 40 years later, Sibs Shingle La-Mer shows us that young South Africans are still dying from dissatisfaction. Sibs also connects his own life experiences to this movie due to the fact that he was inspired to make the film based on his own girlfriend committing suicide when he was just a teenager. You can also see the pain and suffering that Emily’s suicide caused Jabz when he keeps reminiscing of phone calls he had with Emily which eventually cause him to have a mental breakdown in a friend’s bathroom.

Among suicide there are also many other issues that are prevalent in youth culture that this film brings to light like drug, and alcohol abuse seen when Sibs pops “15 or 16” pills in his car before driving through Johannesburg. Another societal issue brought to light in this film is the idea that we are too self obsessed, and so focused on ourselves as a society that we lose the willingness, and awareness to help out others. There’s a scene that depicts a young man ODing on drugs, and is obviously on the brink of death, and instead of helping the guy by calling an ambulance or taking him to a hospital they load the body into the car, and then dump the body on a random sidewalk in the city and flee the scene. Another example is when there is a young woman being raped in the bathroom stall and another drunken girl walks into the restroom to wash her face the girl can clearly hear the screams of the victim, but ignores them completely, and proceeds to walk out of the bathroom and back into the party.

With that being said Necktie Youth was one of my favorite movies that I viewed at the film festival, and I consider it to be a film that will have the longest lasting impact on my own life. It had a beautiful mixture of seriousness, darkness, and comedy which made it a very unique and captivating film to see. I would recommend giving the film a view to every teenager, and young adult because it is a very powerful movie that will have a long lasting impact on the viewer.