Guava Island

Would have been 9/10 if they had stuck with acoustic instruments the whole time. All of the electronic/hip hop music kept taking me out of it.

I love how he incorporated his music into the film. Kept my attention the whole film. Ending was bitter sweet

Wow, talk about inflated review.. this is ridiculous... Not a movie lol, just a really long Rhi who music video.... If this is what u have must resort to sell more cd's then u should just quit. Actress, well, sorry, NOT... I know this will be harsh to many but what a waste of time that you can't get back lol. So no, from that stance, not harsh enough. If you like really really long music video's that never seem to end, this is your cup of tea.... otherwise just download cd music lol.... least you can drive and listen to it lol....

An incredible film about the exploitation of capitalism, and great social criticism.

In some ways, 'Guava Island (2019)' is a feature film, albeit a very short one. In other, arguably more, ways, it simply isn't. Trying to categorise this surprise release is no easy task. It straddles the line between movie, music video, short film, commercial, art-piece, visual album and parable. Essentially, it's all of these things. Undeniably, it's a bit of an experiment. It's also, no matter which way you cut it, a story. This is a relief, regardless of the narrative's simplicity, because it allows the piece to pretty much fly by, telling a tale that actually feels quite purposeful, if well-worn, in the process. It's framed as a mother's story, which is fitting considering its fleeting and somewhat 'faded' nature, and it certainly plays out more as a kind of 'moral' than anything else. It isn't ineffective but it is, as I mentioned, rather broad, culminating in a bitter-sweet finale that doesn't necessarily hold up to all that much scrutiny. There isn't all that much emotional resonance, either. The bare-bones beats hold weight, of course, and there is some threat that causes adequate tension, but the piece seems to try every check-list trick in the book to get your tear-ducts working to no real result. Some of the themes are quite powerful but they hit the head more than the heart, which is fine but doesn't feel intentional and makes for quite cold viewing. It does feel like Glover wants to say something with this. Its actual construction is a bit bizarre, as it bounces from being a fairly serious drama to an incredibly off-beat musical from scene to scene. This causes a lack of cohesion, as does the choice to often layer the actual Gambino songs, non-diegetically, above the lead character's diegetic singing - which creates a seriously strange effect that I can't quite explain. It's also slightly strange that the music is, from what I could tell, exclusively pre-existing Gambino, but I guess that just adds to the affair's overall intangible nature. In any case, when 'This Is America' starts playing it's very distracting. Despite all this, the flick does exude a rather strong sense of atmosphere and conveys a decent amount of character, too. It isn't groundbreaking, though: the story isn't great and I wouldn't even say it's the best way to listen to the music. Still, it's an interesting quirk that's fun enough while it lasts. 6/10

This was awful. So many sites have been caught rigging and inflating review scores for movies, mostly marvel/Disney, but there's others as well; that are essentially social engineering. I'm guessing this is one of those rigged scores. An overwhelming majority of the 10 score reviews on here are generic statements that can be applied to any movie by Accts that have only reviewed this movie. The only reason I gave it a 5 is in honor of Rhianna's Fivehead. That thing is an evolving ecosystem.

This is not a movie really!i like childish gambino musics and clips but that's another thing this wasn't movie and there is no real story ,all there is some cliche and also Rihanna was at her worst role

Year 2019 and Amazon thinks it is a good idea to film a title with a toast machine in 4:3 format. Why are you afraid of 4k cameras? Do you think it will reveal the lack of production quality and remove the fake aura you are trying to put in? I think you are very well afraid of it.

So I'm a huge Gambino fan to the point where if anything Gambino related comes out, I'll automatically try to find all the good in it instead of the bad. Often times, I let my fandom get in the way of quality, but Glover is a man of quality. When I heard this project was going to happen, I had high hopes for it. All I knew is Hiro Murai was going to direct it which was a great sign, Glover would be in it, and he's bringing Rihanna along for the ride, how can he mess this up. And while it is his project, it's written by his brother. I liked this film, but I'm not letting my fandom get in the way of how I genuinely see this film as a film. It was structurally broken at points and I feel as if it used the excuse of being short to get away with less story telling. But the animated story at the beginning didn't do much for me and felt very cliche. The film only strived with the way it was shot and the music scenes, however since his music plays at points out of nowhere, it takes away from the movie and seems like either filler or just Donald giving us what he has already given us and that's a bit disappointing to me. Nothing in this film was new music wise and it feels like wasted potential to do something big. But again, I am a fan, and I overall enjoyed it, it does however have many flaws that hold it down from being way better. So would I recommend it? That depends, if you're a Glover/Gambino fan then go check it out, but if you don't like him, or are not a fan of his, you might want to steer clear from this one. 3/5

I thought that the writing was pretty much average, but in this case, and knowing Gambino´s work as well as Murai's, I can tell that this is case in which quality of the story can be overshadowed by excellent direction and photography as well as an ambitious way to merge Gambino's music with the story itself. It puts you in a pretty relaxing tropical vibe throughout all 55 minutes of runtime (which I find an excellent format to make movie, I would like to see more short films like this), and of course Gambino's always quirky characters makes you rapidly fall for him and his dreams. Some things were predictable in the way the story was told, others didn't make much sense to me, but I find it to be an entertaining movie that brings you some joy and offers you a refreshing experience in the greater scheme of cinema.