By Wyatt Robb
Executive Sports Editor
“Burning Sands” is sure to burn its way onto the Netflix “trending” tab.
“Burning Sands, was released to Netflix on March 10. The film includes many positive aspects, including excellent lead acting, detailed set design, and powerful themes. However, the film is also quite hard to watch, and also difficult to follow at some points.
The movie stars Trevor Jackson, Segun Akande, Sidney Alexandria and Malik Bazille and was directed by Gerard McMurray. The movie first appeared at the Sundance Film Festival in January.
“Burning Sands” follows five pledge brothers during their so-called “hell week,” which they must endure in order to gain entry into the Lambda Lambda Chi fraternity at a prestigious all-black university. The brothers are forced through painful and humiliating hazing before facing one final “hell night” where they will either be admitted into the fraternity, or denied entry.
Jackson’s acting in the film is emotional, deep, and quite dynamic. He shows extensive character changes from the beginning to end. Jackson does an incredible job displaying his anger toward the fraternity early in the film, especially after he is forced to abandon his girlfriend on a date in order to pick up beer for the fraternity brothers.
View photos from the movie here:
The film is set at Frederick Douglass University, a fictional all-black university on the East Coast of the United States. Through the usage of aerial cinematography, the film creators were able to display the beauty and rich history of the university. On a more minute level the detail of the set design was also incredible, enhancing the mood of certain scenes.
The film is not merely for the entertainment of the viewers; it also includes powerful ideas about race and racial stereotypes. It is evident that McMurray made deliberate connections between pledges and slaves.
Read a second review of “Burning Sands” here:
Despite several positive messages, the film is quite brutal and excruciating to watch at certain moments. Hazing is portrayed in great detail, with the pain and suffering of the pledges shown over and over again. In one such scene, the pledges are forced to tread water blindfolded, while tennis balls are thrown at them from close range. This hazing seems excessive and detracts from the emotional value of the film.
View the official “Burning Sands” trailer here
The dialogue of the film, while powerful, is also fast-paced and difficult to keep up with during certain moments. Also, it is also difficult to know when exactly an event takes place. For example, the plot skips from Wednesday straight to Friday, making the viewer quite disoriented.
“Burning Sands” was released on Mar. 10 and includes excellent lead acting, detailed set design, and powerful themes. However, the film is also quite hard to watch, and also difficult to follow at some points. The film is definitely worth watching. It is available for streaming on Netflix and in some select theaters.
Read a third review of “Burning Sands” here:
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