Fourth on the list of so-called failed states (countries where government, law enforcement and infrastructure are effectively non-existent), the Democratic Republic of Congo makes a grim setting for this rambunctious if uneven thriller of crime and revenge.
Its action unfolds in the alleys and slums of Kinshasa, where the Riva of the title (Bay) has just returned after a long absence, loaded with cash and in charge of a hijacked truckload of gasoline - worth more than gold in the fuel-starved city.
Not far behind him is Cesar (Fortuna), a lean Angolan hood in a white suit who wants his petrol - and Riva's head on a plate. At first oblivious and later indifferent to the approaching danger, Riva occupies himself pursuing the lustrous girlfriend of a local crime lord, assisted by a streetwise 10-year-old hustler, Anto (N'Tunga), who always keeps Riva one step ahead of the action.
It's a heady brew, though laced with too many ingredients to be truly tasty. In trying to make a genre film, director Munga chucks everything at it, including athletic and eye-wateringly explicit sex and some nasty violence that would impress Scorsese.
By contrast there are some scenes - such as when Cesar shoots several people at close range and they fold bloodlessly downwards like a house of cards - that are laughably amateurish.
