What would a romantic comedy be without a messy break-up scene, followed by a relatively large gesture of love to win back the heartbroken ex-lover?
This is somewhat the case in Netflix’s newest local offering, “A Soweto Love Story”.
And the South African production, which was released on the global streaming platform on Valentine’s Day, offered viewers not one, but three, love stories to get lost in during the “month of love.”
To add to all this romance, the local flick also has an added bit of humour, courtesy of one of South Africa’s most talented comedians, Skhumba Hlophe. He takes up the role of a henchman of a local loan shark in the movie.
A “Soweto Love Story” also has a star-studded local cast, with some new talents added to industry veterans.
It includes the likes of Lunga Shabalala, who plays the role of Sandile, Sparky Xulu as Menzi and Ray Neo Buso as Sky.
The trio play brothers, alongside their mother Bongekile, played by Duduzile Ngcobo, who adds to the movie’s vibrant energy.
A “Soweto Love Story” centres around Bongekile, who is a well-respected churchgoer.
But her sons are all bachelors, causing Bongekile to be constantly showed-up by her church rival who always brags about her ever-growing family.
Tired of waiting around for her sons to get married and give her grandchildren of her own, Bongekile gives her boys an ultimatum.
She tells them that the first one to get married by the end of the year will inherit the family’s opulent home.
But if any of them failed to make it down the aisle, she would then sell the house.
This causes panic amongst her sons, as each of them has a lot to lose if the house is sold to an outsider.
This includes Menzi, who put the family home as collateral to finance the expansion of his restaurant.
Meanwhile, Sky’s elaborate design studio is located in the house and Sandile is on the verge of getting kicked out of his fancy penthouse and may need a place to stay, with his career as a music producer dwindles.
The ultimatum sets of a race to see who can get to the alter first.
Sandile, who already has a long-term girlfriend seems to think that he has the house in the bag.
But things quickly go south after his girlfriend, Sentebaleng (played by Motsoaledi Setumo), finds a bra in the back of his posh car.
She decides to end their relationship, just as Sandile is about to propose to her.
The remainder of the movie sees Sandile try to win her back with a series of grand gestures.
This includes singing at her workplace and declaring his love for her in a hot air balloon, but nothing seems to work.
Seeing that he still has a chance, Menzi sets out to find the perfect match with the help of his newly hired, tattoo-covered, sassy, motorbike-riding chef, Dina (played by Mamodibe Ramodibe).
After many failed attempts, Dina finds someone that ticks all Menzi’s boxes.
They mutually agree on a “contract” to marry, but in the run-up to the wedding, Dina’s feelings for Menzi grows.
Then there’s Sky, who everyone thinks is gay, despite his many attempts to correct them.
Sky decides to enlist the help of his lesbian best friend to win the house. Things don’t go according to plan when his best friend’s girlfriend shows up at the door.
Later in the movie, streamers find out that Sky is not gay after his secret romance is exposed.
Menzi also scraps the contractual marriage for something more chaotic and uncertain.
And the truth about the underwear in Sandile’s car finally comes to light, leading Sente to forgive him and accept his marriage proposal.
And the house? You’ll have to watch to find out.
Overall, the film is a simple, sweet and heart-warming love story with many frills and thrills to keep you hooked until the very end.
∎ “A Soweto Love Story” is streaming on Netflix.