Runs in the Family (2023)
★★★½ — Runs in the Family (2023)
Runs in the Family (2023) is a South African and Swazi co-production that blends road movie conventions with a sharp comedy-drama edge. The film follows Varun, a former scammer with a chequered past, and his son River, a trans drag performer, as they embark on a cross-country road trip through South Africa to reach eSwatini and retrieve River's long-absent mother from a rehab clinic. Underneath the bickering and the packed car, there is a story about fractured families, identity, and the particular kind of honesty that only a long journey can force out of people. It sits comfortably alongside a small wave of African independent productions from the early 2020s that have been finding international audiences, films like Tiger Stripes (2023) and Lost Boy in Juba (2017), each using genre frameworks to explore questions of personal and cultural belonging.
The film is directed by Ian Gabriel, a South African filmmaker with a background in socially engaged drama. Gabriel brings a relaxed but purposeful hand to the road movie format, letting the landscape do some of the narrative heavy lifting while keeping the focus firmly on the two central relationships. The production is a relatively modest affair, shot across South Africa and eSwatini, and the locations give the film a sun-bleached, lived-in quality that suits its tone. At 107 minutes it is a reasonably brisk watch, though as with many films that build towards an emotional pay-off, the opening act asks for a fair bit of patience before the real momentum kicks in.
The cast is led by Ace Bhatti, a British actor known for television work in the UK, alongside Rob van Vuuren, a well-regarded South African comedian and performer. Gabe Gabriel takes on the role of River, and it is a performance that carries a good deal of the film's emotional weight. Paul Snodgrass and Khadija Heeger round out the principal ensemble. The combination of Bhatti's more restrained register and van Vuuren's broader, theatrical energy gives the film a pleasing push and pull, the kind of mismatched dynamic that road comedies have always relied on. Whether that contrast works consistently is, of course, a matter for the review itself.
A-Z World Movie Tour Eswatini This film had more twists than an M. Night Shyamalan movie. The first half really drags but when they pick up Monica the movie just ramps up a gear. In drag, literally lol. This was a story about a trans man coming to terms with his absent mother returning to his life suddenly... but it's ohhhh so much more than that. I was so pleasantly surprised by this film. Like I say, yes it does drag in the beginning (no pun intended) and the acting is a bit Hammy at times but overall it was a touching story with some really emotive scenes. The ending was a real feel good affair too.
For me, that improvement in the second half is what saves it from being a polished but unremarkable one-watch. When a film earns its emotional moments rather than just announcing them, you notice the difference, and there are scenes here that genuinely landed. The drag competition thread, which could easily have been played purely for laughs, turns out to carry more weight than you might expect going in. I came away thinking this is exactly the sort of film that gets overlooked because it does not fit neatly into any one box, and that is probably the nicest thing you can say about it. Worth the journey, even with the slow start.
Rating: ★★★½ | Year: 2023 | Watched: 2025-06-17
Where to watch
Watch in the UK
Stream: Netflix · Netflix Standard with Ads
Physical: Amazon UK · Zavvi
Watch in the US
Stream: Netflix · Netflix Standard with Ads
Physical: Amazon US
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