Wallay (2017)

Wallay (the title is a West African exclamation of exasperation, which sets the tone rather neatly) is a French-language coming-of-age drama co-produced between Qatar, France and Burkina Faso, and released in 2017. The film follows Ady, a thirteen-year-old boy living in France with his single father, who is packed off to spend the summer with his uncle Amadou and the wider family in Burkina Faso after his behaviour at home becomes too much to manage. What begins as an unwanted holiday turns into something closer to a rite of passage, as Ady finds himself in a world with very different expectations of what a boy his age ought to be. The film sits within a modest but worthwhile tradition of Franco-African co-productions that use the lens of displacement and cultural friction to examine questions of identity and belonging. Qatar's involvement as a co-producer places it in interesting company: the country has backed a broad and geographically varied slate of world cinema in this period, from Theeb (2014) to Tiger Stripes (2023), and Wallay fits neatly into that pattern of supporting films rooted in specific, often underrepresented places and communities.

The film is directed by Berni Goldblat, a French filmmaker who has spent much of his career working in and around Burkina Faso and whose familiarity with the country is visible in almost every frame. This is not an outsider's postcard version of the Sahel. Goldblat brings a documentary-inflected eye to the landscape and daily rhythms of rural Burkinabè life, and the film was produced through Bathysphere Productions. At 84 minutes it is lean, the kind of runtime that suggests a filmmaker who trusted his material rather than padding things out. The story draws on universal themes of adolescent rebellion and the shock of being removed from one's comfort zone, but grounds them in a cultural specificity that gives the film its texture. The friction between Ady's French upbringing and the expectations of his uncle's household is where most of the drama, and most of the humour, is generated.

The cast is led by Makan Nathan Diarra as Ady, a young performer who carries a good deal of the film on his shoulders and whose job it is to be believable both as a genuinely difficult teenager and as someone the audience is still willing to spend time with. Ibrahim Koma plays uncle Amadou, the authority figure whose strictness is the engine of the central conflict, while Hamadoun Kassogué, Joséphine Kaboré and Mounira Kankolé round out the family around him. The performances have a naturalistic, unforced quality that suits the material, and Goldblat's direction keeps things observational rather than melodramatic. Whether the film makes the most of what its cast and setting offer is, of course, the question.

A-Z World Movie Tour Burkina Faso Ah, Wallay. A film that starts like a moral lesson and ends up forgetting what the point of it all was. Let’s unpack this one. So, we’ve got Ady (a rapscallion French teenager who decides stealing cash meant for his family in Burkina Faso is a solid life choice). His dad ships him off to “learn responsibility” with a strict uncle in Burkina Faso. Classic “uncle knows best” setup, right? But then… the story sort of meanders into the Sahel Desert and forgets why it’s there. The first half is solid: vibrant shots of Burkina Faso, some awkward culture-clash comedy (Ady’s snarky attitude vs. rural work ethic), and a few heartfelt moments where you think, “Okay, maybe this kid’s gonna grow up.” But then… the uncle’s obsession with circumcising him? What even was that subplot? It felt like the scriptwriters stepped into a little uncomfortable territory there trying to FORCE that upon him, secretly at times. And when Ady sidesteps the whole thing by selling his stolen gadgets (still shady, mate), the film just… shrugs. No real reckoning, no growth, just a plane ticket back to France because he saved his uncle's life that HE endangered in the first place. If Ady’s uncle is so strict, why does he let the kid basically freeload? And why the sudden circumcision panic? It’s like the film thought it needed *more* drama and spent way too long focusing on that. Ady “learns” something vague about gratitude, but since he skates out of actual consequences, it rings hollow. Imagine grounding your kid for a month… then letting them go right back to their ways anyway. If you’re into films that showcase lesser-seen cultures and don’t mind a loose, meandering story, sure. It’s beautifully shot and occasionally charming, but don’t expect a tight narrative or deep themes. It’s like a dish with great ingredients but no seasoning, visually appetizing, but ultimately… bland.

I think that "great ingredients, no seasoning" line really does sum it up. There are films where a loose, episodic structure works in their favour because the sense of place is strong enough to carry you through, and you can think of Sugar Cane Alley (1983) as one example of a drama rooted in a specific culture that manages to make that atmosphere do real narrative work. Wallay has the bones of something similar but keeps pulling back from the moments where it might actually commit. For me, the circumcision subplot is the clearest example of the film reaching for dramatic weight and then losing its nerve entirely, and when a story declines to follow through on its own tensions, whatever warmth it has built tends to evaporate. There is enough here to make you wish it had been bolder. As it stands, it is a polished but unremarkable film that is easier to admire at a distance than to feel anything much for up close.

Rating: ★★★  | Year: 2017  | Watched: 2025-06-01

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Trailer

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