Starring: Mercy Johnson, Eucharia Anunobi-Ekwu, Tony Umez, Morris Sesay

Synopsis:
A woman is devastated when her husband dies shortly after their sixteenth anniversary and discovers he had been simultaneously married to another woman.

Review:
Ezennachi (Mercy Johnson) believed she was happily married to Olu (Tony Umez). They had a long history that included the birth of twin girls that died. Sixteen years later, it was their anniversary and they had a baby on the way but then there was news of a car accident that took Olu’s life. Naturally, Ezennachi was traumatized but this was only the beginning.

At the funeral she learned that Olu had a second wife and family. Both women were unaware of the other and although their initial acquaintance was tumultuous, it led to a revelation of secrets.

Let’s Talk. So let’s get started on this one. This is a drama about two women that inadvertently shared the same man. It started off slow, with a few scenes that were too long but once we got to the heart of the story the pace accelerated to a respectable level.

There were story issues. For starters, we have two women married to the same man and none of them were the wiser. Now let’s think about this. This means that Olu had quite a bit of time away from both homes. The women believed that his absence was due to “business trips” but what’s disturbing was that both women were so gullible and didn’t suspect cheating for sixteen years!! Really? When a woman gives a man enough rope to hang himself, there’s a good chance he will. Let’s get real here.

The writer should have at least made the first wife, Funmi (Eucharia Anunobie) suspicious of Olu’s activity since she was married to him for thirty years. He started disappearing during the second half of the marriage and any woman with a quarter of a brain would have raised an eyebrow. It’s bothersome that stupid characters are written for the convenience of the story.

Also ridiculous were the scenes where Ezennachi and Funmi were jailed for practically nothing. How could Ezennachi be jailed for murder and theft just because the other wife accused her of such absurdity? Is it really that easy to be arrested in Nigeria?

Another pinch was the twins. What mother accepts that both of her babies died without ever seeing the bodies? C’mon now. Isn’t that a bit bizarre?

Also noted is the picture that Ezennachi broke in the midst of her meltdown. It wasn’t even a picture of her and Olu taken together; it was two separate pictures merged together in the frame. Was there no time to take a lovey-dovey pictures of the movie’s principals?

Furthermore, the concept of a second wife surfacing was also used in movies such as “Torn” and “While You Slept.” In “Torn” one wife was delusional and in “WYS” the second wife was lying. In this story there were truly two wives which made it a more challenging tale to tell.

Swinging the pendulum to the other side, the movie excelled in terms of performances and plot twist. There were heart wrenching scenes thanks to Mercy Johnson’s talent. She played the wronged wife who was stripped of everything she loved which, drove her over the edge. I’m not sure she had to abandon her wig to be effective but nonetheless she didn’t disappoint.

The backlash of ritualism played a major role and its cost extended to those not practicing it. The conclusion was a happy ending where both women received what was rightfully theirs.

The crucial lesson relayed here is that positive can emerge from negative situations. The death of Olu brought about truth, change, and justice.

Needless to say, I came away from this movie with feelings of ambivalence. There were quite a few snags but the story does offer a level of unpredictability, emotion, and fine performances.  RECOMMEND