‘Toxic Parents’ exposes the cost of family secrets

Obaxel Entertainment Pictures has released Toxic Parents, a psychological family drama and crime thriller that explores how parents’ secrets and mistakes can affect their children.

Shot in Zimbabwe and South Africa, the film follows a family that appears respectable on the outside but is struggling with secrets, betrayal and crime.

The film features local actors including Joyful Ncube, Umnikazi Wempuphu, and Nyarai (Nyarie) Ncube.

Baraack Bozza, who plays Mandla, said the film reflects issues that many families can relate to.

“With Toxic Parents we are not making a film about cheating for entertainment. We are holding up a mirror. This is about what happens when parents build their lives on lies and then expect their children to live normal lives,” he said.

In the film, the father works in South Africa and is seen by his children as a hardworking provider. However, Bozza said his character is hiding a criminal life involving money and violence.

“The father tells his family he is in South Africa sacrificing for them. But Mandla and the other children have no idea he is living a double life — crime, money, violence. That’s the first poison. The children inherit a version of a man that doesn’t exist,” Bozza said.

The mother also has her own secrets. After discovering that her husband is having an affair with her childhood best friend, she responds by having an affair with her husband’s cousin.

“Instead of confronting the broken foundation, she chooses revenge. And revenge in this house doesn’t stay with the adults. It leaks. It touches the children,” he said.

The family’s problems deepen when the father becomes involved with his son’s girlfriend and tries to convince her to claim that her pregnancy belongs to his son.

“That’s where you see how far the rot has gone. When a father crosses that line, the family stops being a family. It becomes a crime scene,” he said.

Bozza said the film also looks at the impact of family secrets on the children, particularly the son, whose past trauma affects his relationships.

“The son has shut down. He won’t go near women. And it’s not because he’s shy. He carries a secret from his past involving his sister — a pregnancy, an abortion. He’s living with guilt that isn’t even his to carry alone, but he has nowhere to put it,” said Bozza.
He said the film explores how unresolved problems can be passed from one generation to another.

Bozza said the film does not present its characters as simply good or evil, but instead explores the choices and consequences of their actions.

“Every adult in this story is hiding something. The father hides crime. The mother hides an affair. The cousin gets pulled into revenge. Even the son hides his past.
“The question the film keeps asking is: who is the victim here? Who is the villain? And can forgiveness even exist after this?”

Bozza said the film carries a simple message: children should not be forced to carry the consequences of problems created by their parents.

He said he hoped the film would encourage difficult conversations among families and contribute to the growth of Zimbabwean cinema.
“This is not a comfortable film. But Zimbabwean cinema needs uncomfortable stories. Stories that make families argue after the credits roll. Because if we don’t talk about it on screen, we will keep living it in our homes,” he said.