“I told you not to sleep with them,” says Nicola Fuller (Embeth Davidtz) to one of her daughters, Vanessa (Anna Hope Reed). She mourns a chick, but Nicola has more pressing worries in Don’t Let’s Go to the Dogs Tonight. Nicola is a white farmer in what people now call Zimbabwe, running her small family. She gives her husband Tim (Rob van Vuuren) and daughters some necessary tough love. But things are changing as the country Zimbabwe yearns for freedom, noticeable to most of the family.

Aside from Nicola, the other people noticing changes in the farm include her other daughter, seven-year-old Bobo. And then there’s the farm’s maid and Bobo’s friend Sarah (Zikhona Bali), an African on perpetual alert. Despite being friends, Sarah is noticing the racist attitudes coming from a child growing up, benefiting from racism. Zimbabwe’s independence, for the most part, means that Bobo must leave the home where she’s growing up.

This movie takes viewers back when white people ruled Zimbabwe, getting its story from Alexandra Fuller’s memoir. “Happy-ish childhood during per-independent Zimbabwe” is a pitch that some viewers will reject, which I understand. Credit is due to Embeth Davidtz for being a triple threat in this film, also its screenwriter and director. Growing up in neighboring South Africa during this time, she captures the emotions from a certain perspective.

Davidtz’ film may seem like it’s totally coming from a white perspective on first viewings, surface level interpretations. This is where Sarah’s character thankfully comes in, someone audacious enough to yell at a white child. The film thankfully strikes the balance at giving Sarah levels of both relatively loud-ish and quiet moments. The latter also shows Davitz’ great camera work, as it captures Sarah with deft love and warmth. And of course, that warmth comes from Bali’s performance as well.

Even if Davidtz’ eye is great in Don’t Let’s Go To The…, maybe directing her actors needs some more work. This is a strange note, specifically because actors are stereotypically good at directing other actors. It’s also strange because I’m giving notes towards a child and I don’t know who to blame. But whoever is responsible for the whispering during the narration needs to know that that‘s a little repetitive.

In fairness, that’s the only note that I’ll give to Davidtz and Venter, who are otherwise great. Both show, through their performances, their connection to a land they truly believe is part of their birthright. Davidtz’ performance, in particular, physicalizes the effect of losing some things and some people whom she loves. And there’s still this awareness here, empathizing with characters who don’t have good reputations when history’s concerned.

Don’t Let’s Go To The Dogs Tonight is available to watch in select Canadian theatres.