While experiencing the documentary through personified monologues of the stolen Benin artifacts is an intriguing delivery message for Dahomey’s subject matter, spending half of its run time as fly-on-the-wall observers of manual labor does nothing for its execution. I was excited to learn more about colonialism’s centuries-old impact on present day African countries, especially after Beninese artifacts were a key part of Black Panther’s Killmonger introduction three years before they were returned home. However, I spent more time thinking about that Marvel scene than being attuned to the history since it took 35 minutes of people watching to get to its extremely riveting second half.