Starring: Nse Ikpe-Etim, Mary Njoku, Blossom Chukwujekwu, Keppy Ekpeyong Bassey, Barbara Soky

Synopsis:

The daughter of a wealthy politician used her abusive childhood to her advantage until she was compelled to divulge the sordid details of her past.

Review:

Doyin (Nse Ikpe-Etim) was sexually abused as a young girl by her stepfather. She became pregnant and her mother was unaware of the circumstances. Her mother thought she was promiscuous and Doyin confirmed this belief when she pretended that she forgot the name of the person that impregnated her.  

The movie jumped to eighteen years later. Doyin’s son was a teenager and she still lived in the house with her parents. The ordeal was still raw but Doyin found an unusual way to deal with it. Her stepfather (Keppy Bassey) was a politician with secrets and she blackmailed him into paying huge sums of money to keep their past quiet.   

Balancing the story was the resentment between Doyin and her younger sister, Lizzy (Mary Njoku). Not only did jealously loom in their relationship but Lizzy unwittingly married a man that Doyin had a fling with. 

Lizzy cheated on her new husband while Doyin’s son took to drugs but what was imminent in the story was the anguish that Doyin’s mother would face should she learn the truth about her shady husband. 

Let’s Talk. Drama in the detail. This is a story about a woman that suffered from childhood abuse but also cashed in on it. While her stepfather paid her royally to keep his skeletons buried she also yearned for the love of the man that married her sister. 

What’s great about the story is that it centered on a dysfunctional family where each member was flawed. Richard was the head of the family but at the core he was a low-life, drug using, politician. His wife was a caring woman but she was also undiscerning. Their two daughters, Doyin and Lizzy bumped heads. Doyin couldn’t let go of the past while Lizzy allowed the past to control her. Each character had an agenda and dealt with personal demons. 

What’s questionable is that Doyin would still live in the house with her stepfather when she became an adult. Why would she continue to live with the man that abused her? She certainly had enough money to get a place of her own. 

Also odd was the affair that Lizzy was having with a man old enough to be her father. Apparently her childhood abuse led to promiscuity but this extramarital relationship was difficult to accept especially when she had a handsome man more her age waiting at home. 

Furthermore, Lizzy’s adultery came off as something that was thrown in for theatrical purposes. The affair was difficult to swallow not necessarily because of age differences but because there weren’t enough scenes with the two for the audience to really relate to their connection. 

As for the abuse in the story, we’ve seen plenty where the mother was either in the dark or turned a blind eye to it. What’s unbelievable in this case was that Doyin’s mother didn’t investigate “what boy” got her underage daughter pregnant. For eighteen years she just carried on and accepted that her daughter had a baby for the unknown? 

The style of the movie was an improvement from the norm. The cinematography was great and the story execution made it difficult to ascertain what was coming next. Each situation escalated until we arrived at the finale where the slate was wiped clean. 

Performances were satisfactory and complemented the movie. The casting was sufficient in that the actors evoked a genuine sense of family. 

As noted above, there’s a pinch or two in the drama but “Stolen Waters” is very capable of capturing audience interest. It geared away from typical African movie topics and brought a different level of intrigue to the table. RECOMMEND