Stream It Or Skip It: ‘Queen Sono’ On Netflix, About A South African Secret Agent Trying To Solve Her Mother’s Murder

African countries like South Africa, Kenya and Nigera have shown that they’re fertile areas for movie production, and Netflix has reaped the benefits of that. But, until now, the streamer hasn’t had an original series produced on the continent. Queen Sono is the first; it’s a South African production, but shot in various countries on the continent. And, instead of some deep, thinky show, it’s a rollicking spy thriller.

QUEEN SONO: STREAM IT OR SKIP IT?

Opening Shot: “ZANZIBAR” is shown in big letters. After some shots of the shoreline next to the city, we see a beautiful woman walking along a shore road, wearing an orange jumpsuit and a floppy hat. Some scenes of marketplaces precede a shot of this woman speaking into an earpiece.

The Gist: Queen Sono (Pearl Thusi) is a spy for a South African organization called the Special Operations Group; their mission is to improve the lives of citizens in countries all over the continent. She’s trying to track down information on arms deals to various militant groups, and when she and her technician partner Freddy (Loyiso Madinga) can’t get the files they need via phones and laptops, Queen goes “old school,” creating a diversion to grab a thumb drive then using a combination of street smarts and vicious fighting skills to escape. Oh, and in the process, she hands their official car over to someone who helped her escape.

Freddy chides her on the plane back to Johannesburg that losing the car is unacceptable, but the intel she gets is even better than expected. Queen’s philosophy is that no one but the South African president and security minister know that the agency even exists, and she’s always under threat, so she’s going to take advantage while she can. Also, perhaps things are a bit stressful for her now that the 25th anniversary of her mother’s assassination is coming up.

Back at SOG’s headquarters, she’s upbraided by Miri (Chi Mhende), the organization’s director general, for her unorthodox methods, but in the next breath Queen’s childhood friend asks if she can be of any help with regards to the anniversary and also the parole hearing of the man who killed Queen’s mother. “Just some consistency,” Queen says. “If you’re going to be a bitch, just be a bitch! Commit, you know?” The SOG’s chief, Dr. Sid (Sechaba Morojele), knew Queen’s mother well, and sometimes wonders why he sends her out on missions that would make her mother “cut of my bloody head.” He’s also looking for her psych evaluation.

Queen goes to her high school buddy, William (Khathu Ramabulana), to get it. To him and everyone else in Queen’s life, she’s an art trader, but he doesn’t ask questions when she tells him to print out yet another letter giving her a clean bill of mental health. He’s got a new girlfriend, but is reluctant to introduce her to Queen, so she puts a tracker on his car and follows him to a restaurant so he can just “run into” William and Nova (Enhle Maphumulo), who just moved in with him. The two women get along famously, though Nova is a bit bemused that this “hot” friend that William never mentioned also helped him get through medical school.

Meanwhile, in the Congo, a diamond mine is overtaken by a militia who wants the workers to reap the benefits of their work, only for a “small fee” for their protection. The leader of that militia, Shandu (Vuyo Dabula) manages to get the workers on his side.

As the parole gets closer, Queen’s grandmother Mazet (Abigail Kubeka) is sure the man who killed Queen’s mother didn’t act alone. She also wishes Queen would settle down and give her great grandkids, but Queen is pretty sure that will never happen.

Before she’s sent off on another mission, Queen gets word that her mother’s killer is getting paroled due to frail health. So she sneaks her way into the prison to confront the man, and his version of the shooting doesn’t add up. How does she know? Because she was there, and even though she was a child, she remembers it vividly.

Our Take: Created by Kagiso Lediga, Queen Sono is Netflix’s first original series from Africa (South Africa, to be exact, but shooting locations were all over the continent). The fact that the first show from that region isn’t some sort of heavy drama but a rollicking spy thriller is interesting, if only because it dovetails with Netflix’s desire to find broad audiences for its international shows. So instead of some thinky dirge of a show, there’s lots of chases, some hints of humor, and intrigue galore.

Much of what’s enjoyable about the show stems from Peal Thusi’s lead performance. She fully embodies Queen’s loyal but rebellious spirit. She’s not a mercenary by any means; she believes in the mission her mother died for. But she’s going to do it her way, and she doesn’t care who she pisses off. She gets wistful from time to time about lost relationships and the transitory nature of her life, but she also knows if she stays in one place for a long time, she’ll be in more danger. It’s tough to balance all of this while also looking cool riding a folding bike to work in high-heeled boots, and Thusi deftly handles all of Queen’s multitudes.

The storyline of Queen getting to the bottom of her mother’s murder will be a good through-line for the season; we know that the spy component will also be a continuing story, but the best spy stories balance what an agent is dealing with in the field along with what’s going on in his or her personal life. Will Queen get distracted by pursuing her mother’s killers? Or will it all tie together?

Sex and Skin: Queen sees a video of a former boyfriend singing in bed with her, but that’s about it.

Parting Shot: Queen speculates that the man who was being paroled wasn’t even there the day her mother was killed. “Who are you?” he asks. “I am Queen Sono,” she says as we see a flashback of her as a girl, right after her mother was killed.

Sleeper Star: The location shots are the sleeper stars here. Zanzibar’s winding alleys, “Joburg”‘s sleek downtown (including the best apartment we’ve ever seen a TV spy live in), and the red clay diamond mines that were likely shot in either Nigeria or Kenya.

Most Pilot-y Line: Some of the dialogue sounded like it was looped in post-production, in scenes that shouldn’t have had a ton of background noise. It’s noticeable and makes us wonder if it was a dialogue change or just poor sound design.

Our Call: STREAM IT. Queen Sono is a fun spy thriller that isn’t trying to answer too many questions about the meaning of life, which is sometimes exactly what you need.

Joel Keller (@joelkeller) writes about food, entertainment, parenting and tech, but he doesn’t kid himself: he’s a TV junkie. His writing has appeared in the New York Times, Slate, Salon, VanityFair.com, Playboy.com, Fast Company.com, RollingStone.com, Billboard and elsewhere.

Stream Queen Sono On Netflix