Review of A United Kingdom (2016) by Omar L — 26 Dec 2017

To say that this is a love story only describes the first part of this movie. The focus shifts (and rightly so) to the inevitable repercussions of what such a marriage would inflict on the world stage.

However, the split of the focus between the love story, the local politics, and the international politics dilutes the film's intensity so that none of the themes truly gets explored. The existential threat of South Africa's poisonous practice of apartheid remains only that: existential.

The story would have benefited more from seeing all of the world powers at play, since that is what makes this particular love story unique. What keeps this movie from being boring are the performances by not only its leads in Oyelowo and Pike, but also the supporting cast in Davenport and Felton.