Neptune Frost

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2:02

Neptune Frost

2022

1h 45m

Musical

Sci-Fi

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Tomatometer

Popcornmeter

96%

Tomatometer

83 Reviews

73%

Popcornmeter

50+ Ratings

In an otherworldly e-waste camp made of recycled computer parts, a subversive hacking collective attempts a takeover of the authoritarian regime exploiting the region's natural resources--and its people. When an intersex runaway (Neptune, played by both Elvis Ngabo and Cheryl Isheja) and an escaped coltan miner (Matalusa, played by Kaya Free) find each other through cosmic forces, their connection sparks glitches within the greater divine circuitry. With hypnotic visuals and original songs composed by musician and co-director Saul Williams, this celestial cyber-musical offers a radically bold vision of power, exploitation, and love.

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Critics Consensus

Bursting with ideas and ambition, Neptune Frost is difficult to describe -- and just as hard to resist.

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David Stratton

The Australian

12/09/2022

3.5/5

The film is certainly different, but it’s also strangely gripping even if not particularly likeable or approachable.

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Phil Hoad

Guardian

10/31/2022

4/5

It sometimes gets bogged down in turgid polemic, but what’s surprising is how supple and communitarian it stays.

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David Sims

The Atlantic

08/03/2022

The film is a critique of the capitalist ravages visited on Burundi and its neighbors by a technology-obsessed society. It’s also a soaring, poetic vision of a transformative future, filled with abstract scenes of singing and partying.

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Jillian Chilingerian

Offscreen With Jillian

07/26/2023

Mixing together anarchist politics and aesthetics to create something that feels punk and handmade.

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Jane Freebury

Jane Freebury

12/23/2022

3/5

A playful mash-up from deep within Africa, part dystopian dream and part cyberpunk futurist vision, dispensing striking imagery, pulsing rapper rhythms and messages against the international system

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Stephen A. Russell

ScreenHub

12/11/2022

We’re giving it to Rwandan director Anisia Uzeyman and American co-director Saul Williams for their dance-driven, genderqueer, Afrofuturist, system-smashing cosmic adventure.

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Jesenia

06/17/2022

Incredible from beginning to end! A movie that fires on all cylinders!

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brett w

@RT86809602 08/07/2022

SWAN (Saul Williams and Anisia Uzeyman) has molded nothing less than a luminous masterpiece; a heartbeat transferred to film. Hypnotizing from start to finish, Neptune Frost is a strong contender for movie of the year. If you struggle with reading subtitles following abstract art, or lack a taste for poetry, this one's probably not for you.

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07/10/2022

You've never seen anything like Neptune Frost and it's worth watching for that reason alone. I don't think I'd watch it again but I'm glad that I got to see something truly original.

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Kevin L

@Lakeman 07/09/2022

I'm getting less patient with these high-concept, image & metaphor-driven arthouse flicks. Far too much random, nebulous, overly subjective content. Just nonsensical 'dialogue'/lines thrown out (unanimous goldmine, we all know our fathers...mother and father were binary stars... blah, blah, blah). Went from nearly having a story line that had a serious point, to jumping back & forth into disjointed, unconnected scenes. It was like reading overlty symbolist or beat poetry where 10 ppl can read it and give 10 different interpretations. There's no solid grounding to that. It was surely made with a point(s)/ideas, but it comes off as arty twaddle/indulgence. I get the intent that they had with the hacking and the takeover they wanted/needed, but they didn't go on and fulfill any of it. Just felt extremely random, incoherent (Innocent is here, then sent away. Why not use him? What's with the nebulous talk about what the Motherboard is? Why the need for the sexual advances, one more like a would-be assault? 2.3 stars

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Rachel K

@RT17304933 07/08/2022

I wish there was an English dub in the film.

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07/08/2022

Inventive and moving film.

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Saul Williams

Director

Anisia Uzeyman

Director

Cheryl Isheja

Neptune

Bertrand Ninteretse

Matalusa

Eliane Umuhire

Memory

Elvis Ngabo

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Neptune Frost: Trailer 1

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Synopsis

In an otherworldly e-waste camp made of recycled computer parts, a subversive hacking collective attempts a takeover of the authoritarian regime exploiting the region's natural resources--and its people. When an intersex runaway (Neptune, played by both Elvis Ngabo and Cheryl Isheja) and an escaped coltan miner (Matalusa, played by Kaya Free) find each other through cosmic forces, their connection sparks glitches within the greater divine circuitry. With hypnotic visuals and original songs composed by musician and co-director Saul Williams, this celestial cyber-musical offers a radically bold vision of power, exploitation, and love.

Director: Saul Williams, Anisia Uzeyman
Producer: Maria Judice, Ezra Miller, Anisia Uzeyman, Saul Williams
Screenwriter: Saul Williams
Distributor: Kino Lorber
Production Co: JMK Films, Lizland Films, MartyrLoserKin, Pirates Blend Records, Redwire Pictures, OkayMedia, Carte Blanche Film, Swan Films, Quiet, 5000 Broadway Productions
Genre: Musical, Sci-Fi
Original Language: Swahili
Release Date (Theaters): Jun 3, 2022, Limited
Release Date (Streaming): Jul 5, 2022
Box Office (Gross USA): $193.9K
Runtime: 1h 45m