Sway – Movie Review
by Thom Ernst – Film Correspondent
(February 17, 2024 – Toronto, ON) A man, naked but for a pair of boxers, lies face down on a balcony, a trail of white foam streams from the corner of his mouth pooling on the balcony surface. He appears lifeless, poisoned perhaps, a drug overdose, maybe. Then the eyes flicker, and open. The man wakes disoriented as though uncertain as to how he got where he is. His name is Sway (Emmanuel Kabongo), a street name for a man who lives high above the streets.
That’s when someone starts banging on the door.
This begins director Zachary Ramelan and Charlie Hamilton’s Sway, a minimalist urban nightmare set in motion by a jarring wake-up call and a massive case of the-night-before amnesia.
Sway is an armchair thriller telling the story of the deliberate unmaking of a man.
The film puts the audience in Sway’s high-end condominium and never lets them leave. His home is an ivory tower suitable to the lifestyle of brash young men living the illusion of privilege. Sway, the man, is GQ cover-ready even in boxers. He is a man of immense control; a man whose swagger has been fine toned into well postured movements. He’s unshakeable when discovering a strange woman (Brittany Raymond) asleep in his bed. Evidence of his success is in his manner, his self-assured presence even as he stumbles to his feet trying to shake off the excess (if that’s what it is) that overtook him the night before.
Much of Sway’s success hinges on Kabongo’s performance. He’s present in every scene even when the camera finds its focus elsewhere. What’s more, Sway, the man, is not all things to all people. Having mastered the art of benevolence, he is to some a gracious celebrity, to others a family man, yet to others, a strong-willed businessman and to his put-upon assistance played with faultless energy by Lovell Adams-Gray, he’s a hard-ass employer.
As Ritchie, Adams-Gray is a joy to watch. His uneasy interactions with Sway are accented by the occasional rebuttal. Ritchie, perhaps better than anyone else in the film, recognizes Sway for who he is, and that knowledge keeps him informed as to when to concede and when to push back. His knowledge may also be the reason Sway keeps him close to his side.
Mishael Morgan as a journalist doing a cover piece on Sway, plays her role with quiet restraint. Her demeanor never shifts away from being the professional, adding only a faint hint of flirtation as though it were a challenge to Sway’s authority. Memorable too is Brittany Raymond as Jade. Although Jade is not in the film for long, her time on screen toying with Sway’s assumptions and fears, provides the film with its most threatening moments.
Hamilton’s script confines all these characters to Sway’s condominium. But despite the simplicity of the setting, Hamilton reveals a complex, rather than complicated, story. The script, paired with solid performances and gimmick-less direction (save for one scene evoking Spike Lee’s spinning camera motif ala Jungle Fever) is told with straight ahead clarity.
Ramelan’s previous work has been in the horror genre, and there’s something of that in Sway although it’s unlikely horror is a label anyone could pin on it. Ramelan’s choices are clean and precise and yet everything about the film reflects something haunting: A memory of a time more wholesome (seen in flashbacks and reflected in Sway’s face as a moment of remorse), a past sadness for a lost mentor, a possible infidelity, an outside threat to a charge who has gone missing. All of this cased inside the pretense of a big football win of which Sway’s young charge is the celebrated hero.
Sway is a solid independent feature. But it’s a film that requires participation from its audience, and that alone might turn some people away. Others, willing to engage in a story that prefers to play towards an audience rather than down, are certain to feel rewarded.
Sway had its Canadian premiere at the Toronto Black Film Festival on February 17.
Thom Ernst is a Toronto based film critic and writer and an active member of the (TFCA) Toronto Film Critics’ Association. His work has appeared in various publications including Playback Magazine, The Toronto Star, and The National Post. He is known to CBC Radio listeners for his lively contributions to Fresh Air, Metro Morning, and CBC Syndication as well as appearing on-air for CTV News Channel and The Agenda with Steve Paikin. He was host, interviewer and producer of televisions’ longest running movie program Saturday Night at the Movies.
