NICOLA Peltz has snubbed her father-in-law David Beckham’s knighthood as the family feud rumbles on.
The actress returned to social media on Tuesday to share a picture of a bunch of flowers from her sister but failed to make mention of David’s honour.
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Brooklyn Beckham’s wife Nicola Peltz has failed to mention her father-in-law’s knighthoodCredit: GettyThe actress returned to social media to thank her sister for sending her flowersCredit: InstagramDavid received his knighthood at Windsor Castle on TuesdayCredit: AP
Alongside the picture, she gushed: “Omg @brittanyleahpeltz thank you so so so much these are breathtaking.”
David received his knighthood from King Charles at Windsor Castle for services to sport and charity and were joined by his family for the special occasion.
His wife Victoria Beckham and parents Ted and Sandra watched on as the King bestowed the honour on him with a gentle touch of a sword on either shoulder.
His children Romeo, Cruz and Harper were also involved in celebrating the big day with their beloved dad.
However, eldest son Brooklyn and his wife Nicola were noticeably absent from the big day and much like his other half, Brooklyn has failed to make any mention of it on social media.
Romeo and Cruz both took to Instagram to share sweet tributes to their dad but their big brother has stayed silent.
Romeo shared an adorable picture with his parents and siblings as he penned: “No one deserves this more than you, love you so much xxx. Congrats Sir dad @davidbeckham.”
While Cruz shared the moment David received his knighthood on his stories as well as sharing David’s post.
Brooklyn and Nicola’s snub comes after he is believed to have “quit” the famous family this year following rising tension.
The Beckham family feud is understood to have actually started four years ago, when Nicola refused to wear a wedding dress designed by Victoria.
Tensions then became public when Brooklyn did not publicly acknowledge fashion designer Victoria on Mother’s Day.
He then failed to show up at any of David’s 50th birthday celebrations earlier this year.
The couple reside in their mansion in Los Angeles and appear to be very close to Nicola’s side of the family.
They tied the knot in 2022 and renewed their wedding vows earlier this year, with the ceremony being officiated by her father Nelson.
Only her family were present for the big day, with the Beckhams not being involved.
Despite the ongoing tensions, David put his best foot forward to receive the biggest honour of his career and become Sir David Beckham.
It marks the end of an agonising wait for the charity ambassador, who was first put forward for a knighthood in 2011.
He took to Instagram to pen his feelings as he wrote: “I can’t even begin to describe what a special day it is for me today, a boy born in East London, to receive a Knighthood from His Majesty The King.
“I am truly humbled and so grateful for this honour.
“All I have ever wanted to do is to make my family proud.” the star gushed.
Becks then added a sweet message to his four kids as he wrote: “To my beautiful children who I am so proud of and I know this is a proud and inspiring day for them as well, they are our greatest joy in life and my inspiration every single day. I love you all so much…”
Brooklyn and Nicola have distanced themselves from the Beckham familyCredit: GettyThe pair were notably absent from Victoria Beckham’s recent Netflix documentary launchCredit: Reuters
WHEN you date one Beckham, you date the whole brood.
So make no mistake, news that middle son Romeo has reunited with Kim Turnbull after a five-month break is a significant development for everyone concerned.
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Romeo has reunited with Kim Turnbull after a five-month break in a significant development for the family, the pair pictured at David Beckham’s 50th birthday bash in MayCredit: instagramRomeo, 23, posted a cosy snap of him with Kim — confirming whispers they had reunited after he liked several of her Instagram snaps in recent weeksCredit: InstagramStunning Kim, a model and DJ, was blamed earlier for igniting the feud between the Beckhams and Brooklyn amid rumours the pair had datedCredit: kim_turnbull / InstagramBrooklyn and his wife Nicola last year, before the family falloutCredit: Getty
After all, his former flame was blamed earlier this year for igniting the feud between the Beckhams and their eldest lad, Brooklyn.
It came as rumours swirled that she dated their first-born long before coupling up with his younger brother.
Reports suggested at the time that Brooklyn’s wife, Nicola Peltz-Beckham, felt “uncomfortable” around Kim and didn’t want her in the fold.
And although Kim vehemently denied that she and Brooklyn were ever an item, the pressure no doubt contributed to her decision to step away from the family circus in May.
At the time, insiders argued that Kim and Romeo’s break was amicable and undramatic, and had nothing to do with soaring tensions with his now estranged brother.
But there is no denying that all the scrutiny had an impact, as Kim herself lashed out at the “harassment” and “lies” levelled against her.
Cut to this week and Romeo, 23, posted a cosy snap of himself with 24-year-old Kim, a model and DJ — seemingly confirming whispers they had reunited after he liked several of her Instagram snaps in recent weeks.
Once again, the implications for the family are huge.
Let’s remember, we are fast approaching a year since Brooklyn and Nicola were last pictured with the Beckhams, in December 2024.
Respectful silence
In the interim, their silent estrangement has been deafening, as they failed to publicly acknowledge David’s 50th birthday in May or his long-hoped-for knighthood the following month.
Likewise, they did not blink as Victoria won plaudits for her Paris Fashion Week show and launched her self-titled Netflix documentary series earlier this month.
What Brooklyn and Nicola did do was loudly declare their devotion to one another.
But now that David and Victoria have implicitly co-signed on Romeo’s reunion with Kim, insiders say there really is “no going back”.
If Brooklyn and Nicola were testing his parents’ loyalty, Kim’s proud return to the family fold says a lot.
Consider again the tenets of the Beckham clan. As we know, the family comes as a package deal and — like the monarchy — it is built on hierarchy, bloodlines and loyalty.
If Brooklyn and Nicola were testing his parents’ loyalty, Kim’s proud return to the family fold says a lot
Try to overstep your status or stage a coup and you will be cast out quicker than you can say, “Bend it like Beckham”.
But align yourself with the status quo — and the brand — and the pay-off can be huge.
Just look at Jackie Apostel, the girlfriend of their youngest son Cruz, who has been flying the flag for the next gen Beckham Wags in recent months.
Earlier this week, Victoria and David, who are also parents to Harper, 14, wished Jackie a happy 30th birthday on Instagram — with Victoria declaring, “We all love you” and David calling her “a very special person inside and out”.
This follows Jackie’s dutiful dedication to her would-be in-laws over the past year.
She cheered Victoria on in Paris, and also walked the red carpet with the brood at the premiere of Vic’s Netflix series.
Eldest son Brooklyn is noticeably absent from January’s family snap of Romeo, Victoria, Harper, David and Cruz
Over the summer, she was a mainstay on their £16million yacht in St Tropez and the Amalfi Coast.
And, of course, she was dressed to the nines in a Victoria Beckham number at David’s black-tie 50th bash.
Notably, Kim was also in attendance at that star-studded event — also dressed in Victoria Beckham threads.
But it proved to be her last public outing with the clan as, just weeks later, reports emerged that she and Romeo had split after some seven months together.
At the time, scrutiny was at an all-time high over Brooklyn and Nicola’s shocking snub of David’s big birthday events. Meanwhile, reports swirled from Nicola’s camp that she was fuming over Kim’s omnipresence.
And Brooklyn has since made it clear countless times that his wife comes first. He doubled down on that message in May, calling Nicola his “whole world” and writing in a gushing tribute: “I always choose you baby.”
Most recently, he said in an interview at the Ryder Cupcelebritygolf match: “There’s always going to be people saying negative things, but I have a very supportive wife.
“Me and her — we just do our thing, we just keep our heads down and work. And we’re happy.”
There’s always going to be people saying negative things, but I have a very supportive wife
Brooklyn
While it was widely reported that Brooklyn and Kim had dated when she was 17 and he was 16, those rumours were dispelled.
Cruz was first to rubbish the claims on Instagram. When one fan commented under a photo of Romeo and Kim, “It’s appropriate to date your brother’s ex too? Cool”, Cruz bluntly responded: “Brooklyn and Kim never dated.”
Then, in the immediate aftermath of her break-up from Romeo, Kim took the matter into her own hands. She wrote on Instagram in June: “I’ve avoided speaking on this topic to prevent adding fuel to the fire, however it’s come to a point where I feel the need to address it.
“I will not continue to receive harassment or be embarrassed on the basis of lies, to fit a certain narrative.
“I have never been romantically involved in ANY capacity at ANY point with the person in question.”
She then took a step away from the famous family.
But, crucially, she has maintained a respectful silence since.
And that has undoubtedly made her return to the fold all the more seamless.
Meanwhile, in August, Brooklyn and Nicola went for the jugular, holding an elaborate vow renewal ceremony that demonstrably erased the Beckhams from the narrative. Nicola’s billionaire father Nelson Peltz presided over proceedings, while the “bride” wore her mother Claudia’s wedding dress.
She and Brooklyn then spent the summer holidaying with her family on their £85million yacht in Europe — casting a large shadow over the Beckhams’ relatively smaller vessel.
The message was clear: Nicola does not plan to walk in Victoria’s shadow; instead, she is ready to leave her in-laws in the shade.
All this has, of course, been devastating for Victoria.
But her one saving grace has been the people she has supporting her.
Perhaps, surprisingly, it is singer Jackie who has devotedly cemented herself in recent months as the de facto daughter-in-law.
As a pay-off, she is now living the gilded life that only those in the Beckhams’ inner circle enjoy.
She has become one of Victoria’s most valued brand ambassadors, and recently had the honour of promoting her beauty brand online.
What’s more, she has landed lucrative ads for brands including Dior Sauvage, Sol De Janeiro and Jimmy Choo, and signed deals with the likes of Burberry and Summer Fridays.
Playing by the rules
Experts say she can now earn £10,000 per sponsored post.
As well as finding love, Jackie, who grew up in Brazil, has been granted access to an exclusive world and is playing by the rules.
Now, provided that Kim treads the same path, there is no reason why she should not also be fully welcomed back into the fold — and get to enjoy certain perks along the way.
She herself is no stranger to the gilded life of a well-heeled clan.
Raised in North London, she is part of the bohemian Turnbull dynasty and — as a teenager — socialised with the likes of Brooklyn and fellow nepo baby, Madonna’s son Rocco Ritchie.
Following Kim and Romeo’s tacit soft launch as a reunited couple this week, Kim has kept sensibly quiet on Instagram
Her grandfather was the renowned post-war sculptor and painter William Turnbull, whose work has been exhibited at galleries including London’s Tate.
Meanwhile, her dad Alex founded influential hip-hop label Ronin Records and is a longtime member of the post-punk band, 23 Skidoo.
As a DJ and influencer, Kim already has some high-profile events under her belt.
But being closely associated, for the right reasons, with one of showbiz’s most famous families will only help her career.
Following Kim and Romeo’s tacit soft launch as a reunited couple this week, Kim has kept sensibly quiet on Instagram.
The BBC has confirmed that Annika, starring Nicola Walker, has been cancelled after two series, but fans of the actress have been told to watch another of her dramas.
Legal drama The Split first aired in 2018 and ran for three seasons(Image: BBC / BBC Studios / Sister)
An “outstanding” legal drama ought to be top of the viewing list for Nicola Walker enthusiasts following confirmation of Annika’s cancellation.
Nicola, 55, had brought DI Annika Strandhed to life for two seasons, leading the fictional Glasgow-based Marine Homicide Unit, however, fans will be gutted to know she won’t be back.
A spokesperson previously stated to RadioTimes: “We are incredibly proud of the success of Annika on U+Alibi, but there are no current plans for a third series.”
Nevertheless, admirers of the Unforgotten and The Last Tango in Halifax performer now have the opportunity to immerse themselves in The Split alternatively, reports Wales Online.
The BBC confirmed Annika wouldn’t be returning for a third season despite ending on a cliffhanger(Image: BBC)
The Spooks veteran portrayed Hannah alongside Stephen Mangan’s Nathan in Abi Morgan’s courtroom drama.
The programme initially broadcast in 2018 and ran for three series, concluding in 2022 before a two-part special shot in Barcelona last Christmas.
It chronicled the Defoe dynasty and their legal practice, as they navigated romance, bereavement, infidelity, domestic upheaval, and the challenges of contemporary matrimony.
The Split cultivated a devoted fanbase, achieving an remarkable 90% audience rating on Rotten Tomatoes.
The Split saw Nicola star as Hannah opposite Stephen Mangan as Nathan(Image: BBC / SISTER)
One devotee praised the programme as “outstanding”, adding: “Nicola Walker is simply incredible. I did not know about her until seeing this show, I raced to watch other shows she has been in also because she is THAT GOOD.”
One viewer expressed: “This show is such an incredible, refreshing take on family, love, marriage, and the trials / rewards of life. There isn’t a villain and no character is without their flaws. By the end of episode one, you’re invested and it’s a slow, emotional progression with smiles and a few tears throughout.”
“Am addicted to this show,” a third confessed, while someone else wrote: “This show absolutely captivated me. Even when I wasn’t watching it, I was thinking about it. It involved family drama, lovers drama, and work drama. It was absolutely brilliant.”
Nicola previously spoke of The Split’s success in an interview with Metro, revealing the moment she knew it was a hit.
The Split has been branded “outstanding” and “captivating” by fans(Image: PA/BBC)
She revealed: “I realised they were enjoying it when I started getting people in the supermarket and on the tube coming up to me and saying, these are quotes, it happens quite a lot: ‘I wish you’d have done my divorce,’ and then telling me about their divorces.’
“I occasionally had to say, ‘I actually don’t know that much about family law, I’d be a terrible family lawyer’.
“And then people saying whether or not they were team Christie or team Nathan, that started happening quite a lot. And I thought, ‘oh, people are enjoying this as much as we enjoy filming it’.”
Although The Split concluded with a two-part Christmas special, fans can look forward to a spin-off following a brief halt in production.
The Split: Barcelona was a two-part special that aired last year(Image: Abi Morgan/Instagram)
The Split Up is set to commence production this year, and is a six-part drama that will showcase “the high-stakes world of Manchester’s divorce law circuit, where one family of lawyers, the Kishans, reigns supreme,” the release previously teased.
It continues: “Kishan Law is a British-Asian high net worth family law firm in Manchester, noted for its clientele and its reputation.
“They are the ‘go to firm’ for Manchester’s elite who come to them for their excellence, integrity, and discretion.
“But the future and legacy of Kishan Law hangs in the balance when a family secret from the past comes to light, throwing their professional and personal lives into turmoil.”
BROOKLYN Beckham and his wife Nicola Peltz have shared a series of romantic snaps from their recent wedding vow renewal.
The ceremony was officiated by Nicola’s billionaire father Nelson – but Brooklyn’s parents David and Victoria were absent as their family feud rumbles on.
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Brooklyn and Nicola Peltz Beckham have renewed their vows and shared a series of snapsCredit: Instagram
Brooklyn and Nicola said ‘I do’ again on Nicola’s family estate on August 2 in Westchester County, New York.
Three years after they first tied the knot, the couple decided to have a low key ceremony to reaffirm their love for each other.
Brooklyn captioned the snaps “Only love” alongside a white heart emoji.
Embeth Davidtz’s home is so quiet. Nestled in Brentwood Park, the 59-year-old actor’s spacious yet cozy place feels like a sanctuary, the skylight in her kitchen offering plentiful afternoon sun. Once owned by Julie Andrews, the house is where Davidtz feels most comfortable. It’s taken most of her life to find somewhere that made her feel that way.
“I seldom leave,” she says, smiling. “I’m not someone who likes to run around. I like being here.”
She’s lived in this house for about 20 years — it’s where she and her husband raised their children, now 22 and 19. She moved to Los Angeles in 1991 and before then, hers was a completely different world. Lately, that world has rarely been far from her thoughts.
In the early 1970s, when Davidtz was eight years old, she moved from America with her South African parents to Pretoria, in the midst of that country’s apartheid system. Long wanting to come to terms with the institutional racism she witnessed during her childhood, she has done something that previously had never held much interest: write and direct a movie. Pivoting from an on-screen career of stellar, precise performances in movies like “Schindler’s List,”“Junebug” and “Bridget Jones’s Diary,” Davidtz has at last made a directorial debut with “Don’t Let’s Go to the Dogs Tonight” (in theaters Friday), a gripping and somber drama based on Alexandra Fuller’s acclaimed 2001 memoir about growing up in colonial Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe). The film is about Fuller’s family, but it’s also very much about the lessons Davidtz never wants to stop learning herself.
“It’s a constant processing,” she says of how she is always reckoning with her past. “I think I’ll probably have to grapple with it till the day that I die — what I remember seeing.”
Davidtz, Lexi Venter and Rob Van Vuuren in the movie “Don’t Let’s Go to the Dogs Tonight.”
(Coco Van Oppens / Sony Pictures Classics)
Set in 1980, the year that the African region known as Rhodesia, ruled by a white minority, would become the independent nation of Zimbabwe, “Don’t Let’s Go to the Dogs Tonight” features Davidtz as Nicola, an angry, alcoholic policewoman whose privileged life crumbles as the Zimbabwean War upends the country’s racial power imbalance. However, the movie is not told from Nicola’s perspective but instead, from that of Bobo, her 8-year-old daughter (played with beguiling immediacy by newcomer Lexi Venter), who reflects Fuller’s own blinkered worldview at the time. As Bobo provides voice-over narration, we witness a disturbingly naturalized culture of colonialism in which our main character, a seemingly innocent child, bikes through town with a rifle slung on her back and parrots the racist attitudes espoused by white landowners around her.
Zimbabwe isn’t South Africa, but when Davidtz read Fuller’s stark memoir, the similarities of racial injustice were striking.
“She cuts you off at the knees,” says Davidtz. “You recognize it, then you feel shame.”
Davidtz was born in Indiana, but after some time in New Jersey, her family moved to Pretoria when she was eight. Her 17 years in South Africa left their mark. Even though she’d never written a screenplay before “Don’t Let’s Go to the Dogs Tonight,” she had been working on something about her upbringing. But after reading Fuller’s memoir, Davidtz says, “I remember thinking, ‘Well, that’s the definitive book on it. I’m never going to be able to write a book like that.’”
“I wouldn’t say mine was a happy childhood,” she continues. “I think it was very unhappy in ways. Did I love Africa? Yes. But was it an idyllic childhood? No.”
Bobo’s bigoted views — the girl has come to believe Black people don’t have last names and are secretly terrorists — weren’t what Davidtz experienced growing up. “My family didn’t act that same way, they didn’t speak that same way, but you were part of the system by being there,” she says.
Like Bobo’s family, Davidtz did not enjoy many luxuries, except in comparison to the help around her. “If you had servants in your home, you were part of the system,” she says. “[My parents] certainly were not out marching for civil rights. They fell in that gray area.”
Not that Davidtz excludes herself from the racist mindset that’s evident in Bobo, who enjoys spending time with her family’s housekeeper, Sarah (Zikhona Bali), despite treating her as beneath her. That relationship picked an emotional scab for Davidtz. “There’s uncomfortable memories that I have,” she admits. “I remember playing with [Black] children and being bossy and being just an a—hole.”
Her personal connection to “Don’t Let’s Go to the Dogs Tonight” goes deeper. Fuller’s mother was a drinker; in Davidtz’s family, it was her father, who studied applied mathematics and physics in the States. She sees his alcoholism as the byproduct of an idealism that got crushed.
“He was a physical chemist; he was a scientist,” she says, “and his whole thought was this altruistic thing of, ‘I’m going to take everything that I’ve learned and bring it back [to South Africa].’ That’s where the alcoholism emerged. That government that was running South Africa really tightly controlled everything that my father did. I think they were highly suspicious of somebody coming from America. He very much felt his wings were clipped. And so the bottle got raised.” (These days are happier ones for her dad: “He’s medicated; he’s calmer,” she says. “He doesn’t drink anymore.”)
“This [performance] was hard and it was scary, but it was necessary,” Davidtz says of her turn in “Don’t Let’s Go to the Dogs Tonight” as a racist farm owner in Rhodesia.
(Matt Seidel / For The Times)
Davidtz can’t quite pinpoint where her passion for performing originated. “No one else has it,” she says of her family. “I really think that 7-year-old me sat in my living room in New Jersey watching the ‘Sonny & Cher’ show. Cher with that hair was just the most glamorous, amazing thing I’d ever seen. And then, suddenly, we land in this dirty, dusty farmhouse with my dad in decline and no television.”
Davidtz escaped Pretoria — at least in her mind — by going to the movies, including an early, formative screening of “Doctor Zhivago,” David Lean’s 1965 historical romance. “My mind was blown by the sweep, the story, the epicness,” she recalls. “Maybe I wanted, somehow, to remove myself from that dirt and squalor and aspire to something.”
“Don’t Let’s Go to the Dogs Tonight” doesn’t contain the gratuitous violence you often see in films about racism. In its place is a codified class structure ruled by its white characters, who strongly encourage the locals to vote for approved candidates in the upcoming election in order to maintain the status quo. But once revolutionary Robert Mugabe comes to power, that old system gives way, leading to an unsettling scene in which Nicola wields a whip to keep Black Africans off what she considers to be her farm.
The questionable optics of a white woman telling a story about Zimbabwe entered Davidtz’s mind. She did her homework about the region, even though she ultimately had to shoot in South Africa because of Zimbabwe’s current political unrest. She spoke with her cinematographer, Willie Nel, about how the film had to look.
“I need the light shining through her eyes like that,” Davidtz remembers. “I want the closeup on the filthy fingernails. This is the way Peter Weir gets in super-close, how Malick [shows] skies and nature.” And she made sure to center her pessimistic coming-of-age narrative on the white characters, condemning them — including young Bobo.
“I don’t think a Black filmmaker could tell the experience of a white child,” she says. “I think only a white filmmaker could tell that. [Bobo] misunderstands a lot of what [the Black characters are] doing. That was deliberate — I tried to handle that really carefully. I’m certainly not trying to make the white child sympathetic in any way.”
She was just as adamant that Nicola be an utterly unlikable, virulent bigot. “You needed her to be diabolical in order to show what really was happening there,” says Davidtz. “I saw people behave like that.”
This isn’t the first time she’s played the villain, but she wanted to ensure there was nothing sympathetic or devilishly appealing about Nicola. Recalling her portrayal of the superficial, materialistic Mary Crawford in the 1999 adaptation of “Mansfield Park,” Davidtz observes, “She was just cheerfully going about her life — being diabolical, but with a smile. She was charming. That was more acceptable, more palatable.” She allowed none of that here, tapping into the desperation of a woman whose self-worth is wrapped up in the subjugation of those around her.
The veteran actress has often done terrific work by going small, her breakthrough coming as a Jewish maid prized by Ralph Fiennes’ sadistic Nazi in 1993’s “Schindler’s List.” More recently Davidtz has earned rave reviews in series like “Ray Donovan” and “The Morning Show.” She doesn’t do showy and she’s the same in person, appealingly modest and soft-spoken. But in “Don’t Let’s Go to the Dogs Tonight,” she gives a boldly brazen performance as Nicola, a portrait of ugly, entitled hatred. Although Davidtz felt anxious playing such a demonstratively racist character — especially around her Black cast — she also found it a refreshing change from how she usually approaches a role.
“This [performance] was hard and it was scary, but it was necessary,” she says, Getting herself to such a dark place for “Don’t Let’s Go to the Dogs Tonight” was easy, though. The trick? “I didn’t have time,” she says. “Everything was focused on only the three hours [a day] that I had with the kid. It was like, ‘I got to get this quick,’ and I was on my last nerve, which was great for the character — I was pretty worn down by the time we shot a lot of my stuff.”
“When you’ve been in a place where things have been so wrong, you spot it really quickly in other places,” Davidtz says of injustices occurring both in America and abroad. The actor and director is photographed at home with her two rescue dogs, Parfait (front) and Zoomie.
(Matt Seidel / For The Times)
Similarly to “The Zone of Interest,” which Davidtz reveres (“I love that film,” she declares, awed), “Don’t Let’s Go to the Dogs Tonight” illustrates the insidiousness of bigotry by stripping away the simplistic moralizing. Bobo, her parents and the other white settlers benefit from an unjust system, always presented matter-of-factly, as the adults relish their domestic bliss at the expense of the indentured locals. I ask Davidtz if she’s showing us what everyday evil looks like.
“Evil’s a strong word,” she replies. “I’d say ‘oblivious’ or ‘unconscious’ or ‘culpable.’ It’s all of the above. I really wanted to reveal something the way ‘The Zone of Interest’ revealed something. It’s the casual racism. An ordinary person watching [the film] goes, ‘Oh, my God, that was normal to them. That was their normal.’ Then you see the full picture. Then, the evil of it shows up.”
In her memoir, author Fuller writes about her later political awakening, a process Davidtz underwent as well. “I saw moments around me — horrible, violent police arresting men on the streets, the people chucked into the back of police vans,” she says. “Just that terrified feeling inside and knowing, ‘If you’re white, you’re safe. If you’re Black, you’re not.’ Then as I got older, [there was] the disconnect between what I’m seeing and what is right.”
According to Davidtz, “the scales fell off” once she attended South Africa’s liberal Rhodes University in the early 1980s and started taking part in protest marches. “I felt like that was the big awakening,” she says, “but it’s an awakening that continues.”
There is one frequent sound in the calm oasis of Davidtz’s home: the chatter of news broadcasts. “It’s often on in the background,” she says, “but I think it’s a habit that’s eroding my peace of mind.” She admits to the same conflicted feelings many in Los Angeles have, a desire to stay informed of everything that’s happening — the ongoing war in Gaza, the stories out of Ukraine, the violent ICE raids in Southern California — but not succumb to despair and anger. No amount of quiet can tune out the world, and Davidtz doesn’t want to.
“When you’ve been in a place where things have been so wrong, you spot it really quickly in other places,” she says of the injustices occurring both here and abroad. “One thing that we can do is say what we think.” Remembering her own childhood, and pondering what prompted her to make this movie, she suggests, “I think it comes from watching something silently for a long time. I think that part of me will never want to not say, ‘I don’t think this is right.’”
With “Don’t Let’s Go to the Dogs Tonight,” Davidtz is speaking up, but she knows those bad old days aren’t over. In fact, they’ve never been so present. As the film ends, Bobo takes one last look at the town and the locals that shaped her. There’s a glimmer of hope that, one day, this girl will outgrow the racism she’s ingested. But the land — and the pain — remains. Davidtz has not allowed herself to look away.