The Taste of Mango

Fresh from winning Best Debut Director and the Audience Award for Best Documentary at BFI London Film Festival, Chloe Abrahams’s The Taste of Mango is a moving exploration of family and memory that gradually tugs at and unravels an unspoken trauma, uniting the director, her mother Rozana and grandmother Jean.

Comprised of raw footage shot with an unsteady handheld camera, the film’s presentation is an extension of its deeply intimate subject matter. The documentary opens with a grainy close-up of the filmmaker’s mother accompanied by a voiceover from Abrahams fondly reminiscing about eating mangos as a child. Viewers gradually learn more about the lives of these three women as they’re told of Abrahams’s sleepwalking episodes, Rozana’s engagement and why Jean decided to stay in Sri Lanka with Rozana’s stepfather. It’s the latter point which has caused unease amongst the family. Although Rozana waited until her daughter turned 18 to tell her about the abuse she suffered as a child at her stepfather’s hands, Abrahams says she somehow always knew.

With this secret now in the open, the filmmaker probes her grandmother for answers through heartfelt and honest conversations, which dig into how she found herself in that difficult situation. These moments, combined with Abrahams’s own confessions, create a picture of a family bound by their past experiences. Despite the seriousness of its subject matter, this documentary is more a celebration of the love shared between the three generations. Between heartbreaking moments of Abrahams reading an emotional letter to camera and hearing her grandmother’s side of the story, there are scenes of grandmother and grandchild peacefully taking in the sun, alongside watching mother and daughter singing while gardening.

Music also plays a role in telling this family’s story. Though the soundtrack is largely sparse, the occasional country song is used to further express the women’s tale, the lyrics poignantly mirroring their own recollections.

“Loving someone doesn’t mean you can’t hurt them,” Abrahams reflects in her narration, and this sentiment is at the heart of her feature debut. The Taste of Mango deals with hard-hitting talking points in a gentle and frank fashion. More than anything, though, it’s a testament to the love that connects each of these women despite everything that they’ve gone through.

Andrew Murray

The Taste of Mango is released in select cinemas on 29^th November 2024.

Watch the trailer for The Taste of Mango here: