Title: BLOOD OF THE KING

AKA: ESAU & JACOB

Starring: Yul Edochie, Chigozie Atuanya, Jibola Dabo, Esther Audu, Peggy Ovire

Synopsis:

Twin brothers feud over their right to succeed their father as King.

Review:
Daniel and David (Yul Edochie & Chigozie Atuanya) were twin brothers that didn’t see eye to eye. Not only did they fight with each other, they were notorious for beating up the household staff and anyone that annoyed them.

Their father, the King, was disturbed by their constant blow-ups and believed his sons were either cursed or in need of psychiatric help. The core of the discord was the question of who would be heir to the throne. Naturally the passing of the torch would go to the eldest but there was a discrepancy as to which twin was born first.

When the brothers were sent to the US to complete their education only one of them returned to Nigeria. One ordered the murder of the other, which paved the way to ownership of the kingdom, but little did they know, their father made other arrangements for a successor.

Let’s Talk. This movie was inspired by the biblical story of Esau and Jacob. The core of the movie rests in the hostility between twin brothers over the patriarchal legacy that each felt was due them. Their biological mother died and no records were noted as to which was first born. 

There were other extensions to the tale that didn’t benefit the proficiency of the story. It drowned in overdramatic acting and senseless violence. It was also plagued with prolonged, unnecessary, scenes that extended the running time way past its welcome.

There’s a scene where we had to watch a doctor tape an IV to the patient. He handed the tape to the queen for assistance and we had to watch her slowly peel two pieces of tape for him, one by one. Why did we have to watch this? How did this scene advance the story? Have these filmmakers ever heard the word edit?? Obviously not. There were other lengthy scenes that caused the movie to be aggravating.

In short, the sibling rivalry was over the top, not just between the brothers but amongst the sisters that dated them. Also, there’s the question of age. Were the brothers supposed to be college age? They certainly didn’t look age appropriate.

The casting was decent in that Yul Edochie and Chigozie Atuanya resembled each other and could actually pass as brothers. As for the acting, some performances weren’t the best. 

The fact of the matter is that film execution relied on violence, crude dialogue, and yelling – basically shock value, and quite frankly, I just didn’t buy this story. EJECT