Trees of Peace
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Trees of Peace
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A Lot or a Little?
The parents' guide to what's in this movie.
What Parents Need to Know
Parents need to know that Trees of Peace is a 2021 drama about the 1990s genocide of Hutus against Tutsis in Rwanda. The film conveys the brutality and horror of the violence mostly through sound and descriptions. The lack of bloody visuals allows viewers to imagine the worst, just what the four women hiding from bloody murderers for months in a cramped storage space must do. Language includes "f—k," "s—t," "bitch," "damn," "hell," "piss," and "cockroach," the latter a term used by Hutus to describe the Tutsis they're determined to exterminate. A drunk driving incident that ends in death is described. Women describe being raped by close relatives, unprotected by loved ones who knew.
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What's the Story?
As TREES OF PEACE begins, Hutu murderers stalk and murder Tutsis on the street. Murderous Hutus threaten the Hutus who refuse to kill with death. Francois is a moderate Hutu (Tongayi Chirisa) who locks his pregnant Hutu wife Annick (Eliane Unuhire) in a 5 x 5 storage area below their kitchen. He has also rescued a nun named Jeanette (Charmaine Bingwa) and a White American volunteer named Peyton (Ella Cannon). They all expect the world to rush in and stop the Hutus, but no help comes. Francois also rescues Mutesi (Bola Kileosho), a Tutsi running for her life, and hands her over to Annick. For the next several months, the four women fear discovery and await Francois' infrequent returns with food and water, struggling with anxiety and hunger. The women bicker and moan. As do characters in Sartre's nihilist play No Exit, the women at first demonstrate that hell is other people, until they begin to open up and empathize, partly through sharing their painful life stories and partly as they use a children's book to help them teach each other to read and write English. Ultimately, they all forgive each other their weaknesses and band together to survive.
Is It Any Good?
The first half of Trees of Peace feels like a recap of other movies about people under duress during wartime. The message is the usual: Some are noble and generous, and others are weak, selfish, angry, critical, and ungrateful. But director Alanna Brown begins to break the characters down into individuals and although some of their backstories feel a bit cliched, the actors help create a believable growing bond that unites the women, leaving us with an inspiring story of loyalty and also soaring female power.
Text that runs at the movie's end describes the triumph over tragedy of women who survived the genocide and created healing reconciliation tribunals that bathed the broken country in forgiveness and led to high numbers of women in leadership positions, a higher percentage of female government officials than any other nation on earth. It's interesting to note that the film doesn't bother to explain why the Hutu hate the Tutsi. The answer is obvious as it is for all prejudices: There is no good reason.
Talk to Your Kids About ...
Families can talk about the origins of prejudice. Why do you think the movie doesn't bother to explain why Hutus hate Tutsis?
How does the movie move from the story of four people at odds with one another to one in which women find a way to work together for a cause?
Why do you think hatred among people so often leads to violence? What other heinous historical events does the Rwanda genocide parallel?
Movie Details
- On DVD or streaming: June 10, 2022
- Cast: Eliane Unuhire, Charmaine Bingwa, Ella Cannon, Bola Kileosho, Tongayi Chirisa
- Director: Alanna Brown
- Studio: Netflix
- Genre: Drama
- Run time: 97 minutes
- MPAA rating: NR
- Last updated: June 21, 2022
Our Editors Recommend
-
Hotel Rwanda
Excellent but disturbing film is too intense for kids.
-
The Endless Trench
Man hides from fascists for decades; language, sex, rape.
-
The Diary of Anne Frank
Poignant adaptation is still powerful decades later.
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