'On Becoming a Guinea Fowl' Is a Revolutionary Call to Speak Up Against Female Abuse

A woman (Susan Chardy as Shula) stands outdoors in the morning, with a man covered in sanitary pads behind her (right), in 'On Becoming a Guinea Fowl.'.

This article contains discussions of sexual assault and abuse. For support, please contact the National Sexual Assault Hotline at (800) 656-4673, or visit rainn.org.

This story includes minor spoilers about the ending of On Becoming a Guinea Fowl. The Zambian Bemba funeral rites depicted in On Becoming a Guinea Fowl are both full of noise and painfully silent. But it's what's left unsaid between the women carrying out these acts in Zambian-British filmmaker Rungano Nyoni's film that speaks volumes about female abuse.