Title: MESSAGE TO MARY (1 – 4)

Sequel: ?

Starring:  Queen Nwokoye, Frank Artus, Ebele Okaro Onyiuke

Synopsis:

A woman finds a wounded man in the woods that she nurses back to health all while clueless about his criminal past.

Review:

Mary (Queen Nwokoye) comes across a wounded man in the woods. The man is Egwuagu (Frank Artus) and he lives a life of crime. Mary takes him under her wings and cares for him in a home where she lives with her mother. While Egwuagu stays with them, both Mary and her mother appreciate having a man around the house and seem to look past the fact that they know so little about him. 

The story erupts when Mary’s ex-boyfriend, Amobi arrives in town rolling in dough and ready to marry her. It turned out that Amobi (Prince Nwafor) at some point had betrayed Egwuagu. The rift between them reached its peak when Amobi exposed Egwuagu for the armed robber and kidnapper that he was and Amobi ultimately paid a high price for doing so.

Mary was shocked to learn of Egwuagu’s past but when he explained that life presented him with no choice, she forgave him.

Subplots included a feud over farmland that was left to Mary’s mother, Obidiya (Ebele Okaro Onyiuke0. Obidiya’s brother-in-law felt he was entitled to the land and as a result, he made her ill via witchcraft. As the town prayed for her, romance developed between Mary and Egwuagu.

Greed urged Egwuagu to postpone his plans to marry Mary and he left for the city to pull off one last hurrah with his boys. He was then arrested and jailed.

Mary was clueless about what happened to Egwuagu and after waiting months for his return to the village she finally received a message from him…in more ways than one.

Let’s Talk. Overall this is a good story that transpires around the archaic life in the village. Mary allowed herself to fall in love with a “bad boy” who was a complete stranger. It appeared that he had feelings for her too but ultimately he felt she could do better than him.

Unfortunately, Egwuagu wasn’t familiar with the saying “quit while you’re ahead” and threw away love and a family for a life behind bars.

The acting here is good. In particular, I liked Prince Nwafor’s performance as Amobi. He would appear in scenes with his hat flipped to the side and his music blasting like a wannabe thug but when it came to dealing with Egwuagu he turned into a wuss. Funny.

Queen Nwokoye is amazing. She can switch from fly girl to broke girl in a heartbeat. Frank Artus tends to bring a certain intensity to his characters and it’s no mystery why filmmakers continue to hire them. Another honorable mention is Ebele Okaro Onyiuke who was fantastic as Mary’s mother. 

The conclusion felt incomplete and left a feeling of more to come. The story certainly didn’t exit on a happy note but that’s life. RECOMMEND

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