Starring: Ramsey Nouah, Tana Adelana, Ken Erics

Synopsis:
After a number of women were mysteriously murdered, Tola, a local stripper, encounters a strange customer who had been surreptitiously stalking her.

Review:
Tola (Tana Adelana), a marketing strategist, was talented at her job but at night her attire changed from corporate to scantily dressed. She performed as a stripper at a club and the side gig wasn’t for money; she was thrilled to arouse men and feel desired.

There was a serial killer on the loose and dancers from the club were the only victims. Meanwhile, Nick (Ramsey Nouah) who frequented the club, took a special interest in Tola. He normally hired her to privately dance for him and as the two became familiar, they set up a date night that went awry.

Let’s Talk. This movie is best described as a thriller. It exudes a provocative nature that sought to induce that adrenaline rush. It happened to have fallen short of its goal but it did come close.

The movie focused on two main characters, Tola and Nick. Their exchange seemed clear-cut at first – Nick, a weird customer, wanted Tola to dance for him privately and she collected a fee. Simple. However, Nick’s agenda was concealed while Tola’s interest was limited to the joy of stripping until she became attracted to him. Along with her feelings, her motive changed.

There was proficient dialogue at times while the audience had sort of a nostalgic dance with the main characters. When the time came for all to reveal their cards, performances became do or die and the most pivotal scenes suffered a few hiccups.

First let’s start with the seduction. The time came for Nick and Tola’s big date and she put the moves on him but he didn’t respond in the way that he should have. It seemed that she didn’t notice his unenthusiastic reciprocation and any woman, especially a stripper, would have observed it, so this caused the scene to appear a little unnatural.

The confession. It came way too easy and the character’s laughter cheapened it. The “shoot me” scene was supposed to create heightened tension but did anything but. It came off as a scene desperate for attention and it was as lame as the reason behind the murders.

Then we had Tola’s meltdown where she experienced a plethora of emotions with sporadic laughter. A total copy and paste, contrived scene. Whether Tana Adelana was directed to play the character this way or if the choice was of her own accord, the character lost all credibility at this point. The movie then shifted from thriller to wannabe thriller.

I speak of fleshing out characters all the time and this is what the Tola character needed. Let’s think about this. Stripping is a temporary gig to make money. Some strip to make ends meet while others are just straight up freaky-deakies. But for the most part it’s for money. Since Tola already had a promising career, her dark side required validity. Her motivation for dancing the pole was supposedly because it made her feel powerful. And yes, there are successful people with deep-rooted insecurities, but in order to sell this character, the filmmakers needed to inform the audience of something in her past that made her stoop so low. Without this anchor, its hard to grasp that such an articulate, educated woman, would be at a strip joint working alongside the broke just because she wanted attention. It didn’t add up.

There were also doubtful plot issues such as Tola continuing to dance for Nick even after they became professional associates during the day. How odd. And when Tola ended things with Lancelot (Ken Erics) it wasn’t logical for her to confess her secret nightlife to him at that point.

Performances? I believed seventy-five percent of Tana’s performance. She brought class to the table (maybe too much of it) but ultimately, her character called for an emotional hierarchy that she failed to reach. Ramsey Nouah had a clearly defined character and as usual he was awesome.

Despite deficiencies, “Body Language” was a damn good plot. Unfortunately, it was hindered with kinks that reduced the impact it should have had. There were actually moments when it didn’t feel African; it felt universal. That being said, it was certainly an upgrade from the norm and it managed to captivate for most of its running time. RECOMMEND