Starring: O.C. Ukeje, Lilian Esoro, Linda Ejiofor, Jide Kosoko

Synopsis:

A woman sorting out matters in regard to her deceased father visits an abandoned house he once owed that ultimately exposed old secrets.

Review:

After the death of her father, Edna (Lilian Esoro) and her husband, Kingsley (OC Ukeje) took a journey to find a house that her father willed to her. She wasn’t aware of this particular property among his holdings and it prompted her to investigate.

On the way, their car broke down and they had no other alternative but to spend the night in the house. The home was old, abandoned, and isolated with no electricity. Edna and Kingsley were forced to fend for themselves in the dark during the stormy night.

On the following day while Kingsley left to follow up on the car and fetch breakfast, Edna searched the home and found various documents. Her father was a Nigerian ambassador and from the information she gathered, he secretly participated in illegal activity and also cheated on her mother. While Edna tried to fit the pieces of her father’s life together, her husband harbored some secrets of his own.

Let’s Talk. This is a suspense thriller. Edna and Kingsley’s day turned into a night of hardship when their car hit a ditch in the road. Once in the home, Edna was plagued with nightmares and didn’t realize that the house haunted her because she once lived there as a child. As they pieced together clues about her father’s past, they were led to a secret room where he hid valuable items as well as proof of his double life. 

There was also a hidden agenda where someone else was after her father’s assets and also sought revenge. A visitor stopped by who claimed to represent the company that was interested in purchasing the property but there was more to her than what met the eye. By the story’s conclusion Edna found herself defending her father’s actions, ulterior motives were exposed, and there were a few casualties.

As for comments, there’s one item that I found questionable that has to do with the relationship between two of the characters. Without giving it away all I can ask is really?? Other than that the only thing I would change about this movie is more screen time for Linda Ejiofor. Her character represented the turn of events in the story and she has such a magnetic screen presence.

What was great was that the filmmakers deviated from the Nollywood norm and stepped outside the box. They came up with an intriguing thriller based on a simple story. I’m not so sure the antagonist in the story necessarily needed the protagonist to reach the intended goal but the drama was still appealing. Plot twists, betrayals, and other surprises kept it interesting. 

Performances and cinematography were on point – no complaints there. The dark scenes coupled with the rainstorms exuded an eerie feeling that succeeded in keeping one on edge. By the end, the story came together pretty well with all dots connected.

It was easy to get caught up in “Secret Room.’ It offered enough suspense to keep us watching and that’s the idea. RECOMMEND

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