For everyone who’s had the fortune or misfortune of going through the chaotic and tumultuous trial of ice and fire of the now defunct 8-4-4 education system, most remember their form one year as the lowest circle of hell. From the confusion, homesickness, bullying, ‘funkies’, and the introduction to subjects and environments made to drown one into a sea of anxiety, there’s nothing quite like a mono’s experience. Kenya’s most recent cinema release, Mono, a production by Cheese Pictures in collaboration with the Kenya Film Commission, resonates as a charming and humorous archive of this reality faced by young teenagers—a reality that may soon fade into the past with ongoing changes in the education system.
Within the confines of Francis Morris Morton Mission High School (Framomo), a missionary school, Mono chronicles the first year of half a dozen boys from different backgrounds as they are forced to defend themselves against a sea of opposition from senior students, teachers, and personal trials just to survive through the year. With the narrative split among them, the young boys get their fair share of screen time, each bridled with their own debilitating struggle, and with the help of their fellow students and the emotional tug of the audience behind them, rise above some form of reprieve. Their antagonists, perfect representations of harmless evil, always on their heels, are an ever-present menace creating genuine moments of nostalgic laughter, tension and drama. Roger Lulu, Ahsante Ng’ang’a, and Josh Muli are some of these young actors sharing the spotlight with veterans like Zainabu Harri (Shimoni), Andrew Muthure (Mother-in-Law), Nyokabi Macharia (Chaguo), Steve Katingima, and David Opondoe (Auntie Boss).
Opening with the parents of the students dropping them off, the first few minutes of Mono introduce the grounded and realistic world in which the film will exist. Like the students, the parents capture the faces and mannerisms all too familiar within the halls of Kenyan secondary schools, albeit exaggerated for dramatic appeal. The many trials and tribulations the young monos go through are also painfully reminiscent, from stolen uniforms to classroom presentations and the horrid taste of school food.
The film highlights the toll these trials take on the students, and the young actors, though not perfect in their performance, make up for the lack of experience in front of a camera with a genuine enthusiasm that carries the film. Instances like one of the bullies, limited to less than five lines in the entire film, appearing at the right time to stoically take the monos’ food time and time again without once failing to arouse laughter, or a cook who perfectly delivers his few lines instinctively, speaks to the craft in the writing of the film by Yafesi Musoke.
Directed by Joyce Musoke, Mono, though confined within the fence of a school, finds moments of ingenuity to diversify its scenes, like super close-up monologues by teachers. For most of the film, however, the scenes brush through the same sets: a beautiful school that, like our high schools, feels grand and pristine from the front but blemished and worn out within the walls. The music is monotonous throughout, and the film is careful not to draw too much attention away from the actors, which keeps it grounded in the story.
With a narrative split between a couple of characters, however, Mono struggles to tie the film together at the end, choosing to give some characters a fitting end to their arcs while ignoring others and instead jumping into the broader conversations of the high school experience. Though fitting to keep the runtime just below the two-hour mark, this choice concludes a riveting film in a chaotic and disjointed manner. That doesn’t take away from the fact that Mono, through its heartfelt highs and flattering lows, manages to construct a timely time machine that captures the fleeting feeling of high school that anyone, young or old, would enjoy living and reliving.
