Title: SLEEPWALKER (1 & 2)
Sequel: THE END OF SLEEPWALKER (1 & 2)

Starring: Genevieve Nnaji, Ramsey Nouah, Jackie Appiah, Mercy Johnson, Kofi Adjorlolo, Ecow Smith Asante

Synopsis:
A young woman raped as a child ceases an opportunity to avenge the harm bestowed upon her.

Review:
Angel (Genevieve Nnaji) was just twelve when she witnessed the brutal murder of her parents and was then raped by the murderer, Chief Diminas (Kofi Adjorlolo). The Chief was acquitted and she was admitted to a psychiatric ward where she suffered traumatic episodes while sleepwalking.

Fifteen years later as an adult she was working as an interior decorator when a request came in from Chief Diminas. To make sure she procured the assignment, she slept with her boss, who also happened to be the boyfriend of her roommate. As planned, Angel got the job and became acquainted with Chief Diminas who didn’t recognize her as the young girl he raped years ago.

The Chief pursued her and so did his son who was more her age but she chose to marry the Chief.  On the night of the wedding, Angel stabbed him to death which, raised the question of whether it was willful or an occurrence of her habitual sleepwalking.

Let’s Talk. This is a thriller that is heavy laden with unnecessary subplots but first let’s elaborate on the primary story. First off, what woman would willingly sleep with a man that raped her as a child? Not only did he rape her, he killed her parents right in front of her. Yes, the Angel character grew up to be a ruthless woman but there ain’t that much callous in this world!!

Also, how come Chief Diminas didn’t recognize her? She should have at least jolted his memory if even for a brief second. How could she not look familiar to him?

Another issue was that Justin (Ramsey Nouah) was employed as Chief Diminas’ lawyer yet he represented Angel in court – the very person that killed him. How ethical is that? Isn’t that a major conflict of interest?

Now it was great to see Ramsey and Genevieve together and it was even lovelier that they became love interests, but again, it was unfathomable for Ramsey’s character to defend her. 

The pace of the movie, especially in parts one and two was deliriously slow. A turtle could have made it to the end of the story before the filmmakers did. Obviously, story execution was inept. It took two full parts just to set up the story and it took over an hour to introduce Ramsey Nouah and Mercy Johnson when their characters were integral parts of the story.

Another issue was the numerous subplots. We had 1) Justin (Ramsey Nouah) and his girlfriend Beth (Mercy Johnson), 2) Dora (Jackie Appiah) and her boyfriend (Ecow Smith Asante) and then 3) Louis (Benedict Johnson) and his ex-girlfriend (Halima Abubaka). All of these relationships suffered from the same problem – infidelity. Also, all of the men mentioned above slept with Angel but the intricacy of the relationships watered down the story.  

The most annoying was the storyline between Louis and his ex-girlfriend, Kathy (Halima Abubaka). Kathy was a figment of our imaginations for most of the movie until the filmmakers brought her to life in the sequel. Then we had to suffer through flashbacks about their problematic relationship. All I could think was “who cares???” We know he left her for Angel but seeing how he did it was a complete waste of time!!

Actually, the movie improved greatly in the sequel until it began to drown in unnecessary scenes and dialogue. And then there was that song that played over and over and over again. Sigh…. It was enough to make you want to join Angel in the psych ward.

Performances. Genevieve Nnaji led the way with the Angel character. She had a heart of stone throughout the movie which was a character flaw because her vengeance should have been balanced with more moments of longing for her deceased parents.

Ramsey Nouah and Mercy Johnson were the saving grace as they gave the movie life where it was needed.

As for technical stuff, video quality sufficed but sound was uneven. I constantly adjusted the volume up or down throughout. Quite annoying…

At the end of the day this movie had potential as it touched on the medical condition of somnambulism but it fell flat due to story issues, excessive dialogue, story layout, and overall believability. EJECT