Title: A WEEK TO MY WEDDING

Starring: Belinda Effah, Ikay Ogbonna, Uzor Arukwe

A newly engaged woman is threatened by her finance’s friend that caught her in a comprising position.

Review:
Lillian (Belinda Effah) suffered hard times due to difficulty finding a job. She had numerous interviews where some didn’t pan out while others propositioned her for sex.

She was finally hired at a bank not because she was qualified, but because she was attractive. Lillian didn’t perform at a satisfactory level and her boss, the branch manager, took advantage of her and placed her in a position of having sex with him or losing her job.

Things looked up when she met Alex (Uzor Arukwe). They had an immediate attraction and after two months they had become engaged. Alex invited his best friend, Pedro (Ikay Ogbonna), to be his best man, in a wedding that was taking place in a week’s time. 

When Alex arrived in town and attempted to check into a hotel, his credit card was declined so he visited the bank where Lillian worked to rectify the situation. This is when he barged into the branch manager’s office and saw him having sex with Lillian.

At the time, Pedro and Lillian had never met but that changed rather swiftly when Alex introduced them. They recognized each other but were silent about their acquaintance. Pedro knew Lillian’s secret and had the power to ruin her life so she hatched a plan to eliminate him first.

Let’s Talk. This movie is similar to the movie “A Bone To Pick“ as both featured marriages at stake with women who hid scandalous pasts. These stories took drastic measures to avoid the destruction of romantic relationships.

This movie sheds light on the aggravation of searching for work. Lillian was invited to various interviews based on her resume but whenever she met the potential employer, she was informed that she wasn’t qualified. Didn’t they read her resume prior to inviting her?

This type of thing has been known to happen here in the US where you apply for a job, go to the interview, but once it’s discovered that the candidate is a person of color, or not what the employer had in mind, the job description suddenly changed or the prospective employee was no longer qualified.

Although racial discrimination in the US has improved greatly, we still have some ways to go. I’m not sure what was happening in Lillian’s case but it seemed that she was just inexperienced.

The one thing that isn’t as common in the US is the blatant sexual advances in the workplace. Although it does happen, stringent labor laws are in place and the loss of income, deterioration of career, and law suits, are preferably avoided.

As for the story, too much time was spent on Lillian’s failed interviews and it got a little weary. The story was predictable, formulaic, and most of it was unfathomable.

I noticed that in some of the dining establishments that there were no background actors. This gave the appearance of a cheap production. 

What the filmmakers got right was the casting of Belinda Effah. She’s such a competent actress and she had really good chemistry with Uzor Arukwe. I found myself rooting for them but the writer had other plans.

Sound and video were adequate.

There was nothing fantastic about the story and at the end of the day, it’s just another easily forgettable movie. EJECT