Jabz and September are two twenty-something suburbanites drifting through a day of drugs, sex, and philosophizing in their privileged Johannesburg neighborhood. Gorgeously shot using rich black-and-white photography, the story is anchored by the live-streamed suicide of their friend Emily. Jabz and September are ill equipped to handle the tragedy that interrupts the hollowness of their daily lives.

A first-time director, 23-year-old Sibs Shongwe-La Mer depicts a raw, unique, and captivating post-apartheid Johannesburg. Facing adulthood and forced to confront a changing society today’s disaffected youth ultimately confronts a hard truth that can’t be ignored.

—Deborah Rudolph