In a development that will shock absolutely no one in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, a new documentary has confirmed that living without electricity is, in fact, quite difficult. Nelson Makengo's feature documentary debut, Rising Up at Night, opens on a black screen - a void of darkness - while a recording of a fervent sermon sounds like rolling thunder. It's a bold artistic choice that also happens to be an accurate depiction of what it's like to live in Kinshasa, where an electricity shortage has long plagued inhabitants and left them clinging to religion as a beacon of hope. Climate disasters resulting in floods have only worsened their plight, because apparently the universe decided rolling blackouts weren't enough of a challenge.

Shot mostly in Makengo's neighbourhood of Kisenso, the film observes the ways in which struggling city dwellers adapt to a life lived in the shadows. Meals are eaten by candlelight - charming in a Pinterest sort of way, less so when it's your permanent reality. Churchgoers wear light-up medallions to illuminate their prayer books, a clever workaround that also looks like a cyberpunk rave gone deeply wrong. Such survival tactics speak to a collective resilience, while also rendering these previously mundane activities eerily dystopian. It's the kind of thing that makes you feel guilty about complaining that your Wi-Fi buffered during a Netflix episode.

The matriarchs of the community lament the rise of crime and sexual assaults that occur in the absence of public lighting, because apparently darkness brings out the worst in people, not just the mosquitoes. Meanwhile, younger members of the neighbourhood raise funds to retrieve stolen electric cables - a grassroots infrastructure project that would be inspiring if it weren't so profoundly depressing. In the absence of state support, this community spirit is the only energy that perseveres in times of extreme precarity. So on the bright side, at least someone's keeping the lights on, even if it's just the metaphorical ones.