‘Umjolo: The Gone Girl’ (2024) Netflix Movie Review - Making Room for Better

Umjolo: The Gone Girl is a film about a couple, Lethu and Lucky who's ready to tie the knot. One day, Lethu visits her gynecologist suspecting a urinary tract infection. It was to her utmost surprise and disgust that instead of a UTI, she got an STI. As she was with only Lucky for the past three years, it was clear where Chlamydia came from. It was like this that the female lead character realized that she was planning to get married to a cheater. Lucky has slept with multiple women and accepts it after putting up a good fight. The story progresses and we get to witness the story of another couple who is also going through the same. Bridget and Themba, the second couple also have issues surrounding faithfulness. It's Themba who cheats on his wife, that too with school-going girls. He's none other than Lucky's brother and both are cheaters living under the disguise of good partners. Things don't get hidden for too long and all hell breaks loose. The movie has been divided into three parts, based on the phases the couples go through.

In my opinion, Umjolo: The Gone Girl is all about how today's dating era works. It is about Lethu who brings her standards and lets her guard down for a man who doesn't feel satisfied in the relationship. After a lot of struggle and attempts to change herself so that she can adjust to the concept of an open relationship, she finally gave up and chose her happiness. The ending feels very satisfying and so many things have been told by the narrator who pops up on your screen at regular intervals. It's not that his role was important or he had an important contribution, the film would've done fine without him. The duration of this movie is 93 minutes and for that duration, a decent job has been done.

What attracts you to this film is the quality of the content. Though it might not resonate with many, it surely works as an opener for the people who think that love is a bed of roses. One of the most powerful scenes in the movie is about how Lethu gives Luck a slap after finding out about his hook-ups and the most dissatisfying was the one in which she also got interested in being with other men. Not only was cheating justified, but she also tried to mold herself as Lucky wanted. If he was outside with other women, then it's fine but when his partner went out with another man on a date, he didn't take time to throw accusations at her face. I think that the message of people being clear about their choices about learning to step out of a relationship when it doesn't work has been delivered loud and clear. The actors have done a decent role and the chemistry too was great. It's a refreshing watch with a plot different than movies of the same genre and I wasn't expecting that this film would turn out like this.

Final Score – [6.5/10]
Reviewed by - Riya Singh
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Publisher at Midgard Times