A friend and college at work told me about this movie. I was saying how I am open to any movies no matter what country they are from, so she gave me this film to watch from Jamaica.
Being half American I normally have no trouble understanding the language, but I must admit Jamaican accent is not the easiest to understand. I believe I understood most of it and the plot was straightforward enough for me to get.
What I really liked about this flick is the opportunity to learn something about a new culture I am not familiar with from before. Although it is a movie and the story itself is fiction, the way of life shown and the landscape, culture and differences are easily visible. One scene in particular when the mother is angry at her daughter for not sleeping with her "uncle" who was giving them money, really shocked me. I was later told that this is very common in Jamaica and necessary for poor families to survive.
The story is well written and has some nice plot twists. The acting is also great, especially from Paul Campbell playing the hired killer. He is terrific and really looks scary and dangerous. As the name indicates the movie has scenes of dancehall. Dancehall is a type of dance that is very popular in Jamaica and at first sight may have you wondering what exactly is going on. It is actually very fascinating to watch and the music they play along with it is unique and cool.
All in all Dancehall Queen was a nice movie. The story is good and the same goes for the acting. It gives you a picture of Jamaican culture and shows you dancehall. Without being a masterpiece and a somewhat low budget movie it still deserves a 7/10