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Duma

Duma

Adventure · Drama · Family · 2005

An orphaned cheetah becomes the best friend and pet of a young boy living in South Africa.

Movie details

Duma

“Some friendships are wilder than others”

2005 Adventure · Drama · Family 1h 40m

Critical arithmetic

One number, for now.

TMDB

7.4 / 10

Community rating

An orphaned cheetah becomes the best friend and pet of a young boy living in South Africa.

CriticWise case file

What this film says about your taste.

Not a recommendation score. A measure of how closely the film’s taste signals resemble yours.

The archetype split

Who fights over Duma?

The split comes from the same five-axis model used by the test, not audience ratings or review sentiment.

Taste neighbourhood

Nearby on the taste map.

TMDB supplies the candidates. CriticWise reorders them by craft, strangeness, prestige, emotion, and pace.

Saving Flora

Saving Flora

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Flora is a circus elephant who can no longer perform her tricks. The night before she's scheduled to be euthanized, the circus owner's 14-year old daughter, Dawn, sneaks Flora from the circus. All that stands between them and the safety of the elephant preserve is two hundred kilometers of woods, one raging river, two elephant hunters and the fear of not making it.

EO

EO

Drama · 2022

The world is a mysterious place when seen through the eyes of an animal. EO, a grey donkey with melancholic eyes, meets good and bad people on his life’s path, experiences joy and pain, endures the wheel of fortune randomly turn his luck into disaster and his despair into unexpected bliss. But not even for a moment does he lose his innocence.

I Am David

I Am David

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A 12-year-old boy manages to flee a Communist concentration camp on his own, through sheer will and determination. All he has in his possession is a loaf of bread, a letter to deliver to someone in Denmark, and a compass to help get him there.

Mowgli: Legend of the Jungle

Mowgli: Legend of the Jungle

Adventure · 2018

A human child raised by wolves, must face off against a menacing tiger named Shere Khan, as well as his own origins.

Alabama Moon

Alabama Moon

Adventure · 2009

After the unexpected death of his survivalist father, an eleven year old boy raised in the Alabama wilderness must learn how to make a home in the modern world.

The Shack

The Shack

Drama · 2017

A grieving man receives a mysterious, personal invitation to meet with God at a place called 'The Shack'.

Walkabout

Walkabout

Adventure · 1971

Under the pretense of having a picnic, a geologist takes his teenage daughter and 6-year-old son into the Australian outback and attempts to shoot them. When he fails, he turns the gun on himself, and the two city-bred children must contend with harsh wilderness alone. They are saved by a chance encounter with an Aboriginal boy who shows them how to survive, and in the process underscores the disharmony between nature and modern life.

Out of My Mind

Out of My Mind

Drama · 2024

Melody Brooks, a sixth grader with cerebral palsy, has a quick wit and a sharp mind, but because she is non-verbal and uses a wheelchair, she is not given the same opportunities as her classmates. When a young educator notices her student's untapped potential and Melody starts to participate in mainstream education, Melody shows that what she has to say is more important than how she says it.

The Plague Dogs

The Plague Dogs

Adventure · 1982

Two dogs, Rowf and Snitter, struggle to survive in the countryside after escaping from an animal research laboratory. They're pursued by search parties and then the military after rumours spread that they could be carrying the bubonic plague.

The Call of the Wild

The Call of the Wild

Adventure · 1972

John Thornton, is a fearless man who's after more than gold; he wants to do what's right. Thornton works for the U.S. mail and is the only person daring and smart enough to figure out how to travel the deadly 600 miles from Skagway to Dawson, Alaska in the icy winter. His incredibly dog Buck is by his side and part of how he survives.

Where it lives

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Names above the title

The people responsible.

Directed by

Carroll Ballard

Written by

Karen Janszen · Carol Cawthra Hopcraft · Carol Cawthra · Xan Hopcraft

A

Alex Michaeletos

Xan

Campbell Scott

Campbell Scott

Peter

M

Mary Makhatho

Thandi

N

Nthabiseng Kenoshi

Lucille

Hope Davis

Hope Davis

Kristin

Jennifer Steyn

Jennifer Steyn

Aunt Gwen

Eamonn Walker

Eamonn Walker

Ripkuna

Court is in session

Put Duma on trial.

Two incompatible taste archetypes. One film. Read the arguments, then issue a completely binding cultural ruling.

The defence The Sentimental Softie

“Sincerity is not manipulation.”

The film risks embarrassment to make emotion communal, and that openness is harder than fashionable detachment.

The prosecution The Cool Ironist

“The strings are showing.”

Every cue tells you exactly what to feel and when, leaving sentiment to do the work character should have done.