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Riding with Sugar

Name: Riding with Sugar
Director: Sunu Gonera
Released: 2020
Duration: 107 min

Representation Score

6.1/10

Good

2020

Director

Sunu Gonera

Runtime

107 minutes

Average Rating

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New Showbiz Analysis

Riding with Sugar is a powerful film that avoids the clichés of the 'triumph of the spirit' genre by grounding the protagonist's BMX ambitions in the harsh realities of political displacement. The film offers a grounded look at systemic trauma. Its strength lies in its exploration of racial and cultural complexities, showing how political instability and xenophobia shape individual lives and family structures. While it excels in depicting underrepresented racial identities and subverting traditional gender roles, it lacks visible representation of LGBTQ+ identities or characters with disabilities.

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Category Breakdown

Does Riding with Sugar have LGBTQ+ representation?

Fair

The film centers on familial structures and xenophobic violence but does not include any explicit LGBTQ+ characters or non-straight identities.

How does Riding with Sugar portray gender?

Fair

It features a well-educated single father who challenges traditional patriarchal roles, but the focus on the male protagonist's BMX ambitions limits broader gender analysis.

How racially and ethnically diverse is Riding with Sugar?

Excellent

The film highlights a Black family navigating informal settlements and political instability in Zimbabwe. It provides a nuanced critique of identity-based violence and the precariousness of immigrant life.

How does Riding with Sugar represent religion and culture?

Excellent

The story critiques institutional corruption and state-sanctioned violence, emphasizing resilience against oppressive systemic forces rather than traditional capitalist or nationalist ideals.

Does Riding with Sugar include disability representation?

Minimal

There is no mention of characters with visible or invisible disabilities in the provided narrative.

Present on Screen

Provides a nuanced look at racial and ethnic complexity through the lens of Zimbabwean political instability.
Offers a sophisticated critique of systemic xenophobia and the precariousness of the immigrant experience.
Subverts traditional masculine roles by centering a well-educated, single father as a primary caregiver.

Limited or Absent

Lacks visible representation of LGBTQ+ identities or non-straight relationships.
Limited scope for gender-based analysis due to the heavy focus on the male protagonist's role.
No information or presence of characters with visible or invisible disabilities.

Official Synopsis

Joshua, lives in an informal settlement with his grandmother and father, a well-educated black man and single parent who was forced to flee his home as a result of Zimbabwean politics. Once a scholarship student with a great future, Joshua dreams of winning a BMX cycling championship as a means to finding a better life than the spaza shop which his father owns, can provide. But, even this dream is shattered when he narrowly survives a vicious xenophobic attack during which his father and grandmother lose their lives.

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