Starring:  Genenieve Nnaji, Osita Iheme, Fatima Jabbe, Edward Kagutuzi

Synopsis: 

A young boy that recently relocated from London to the Gambia with his mother is taken on a mystical journey through the woods to end a conspiracy surrounding a father he’s never met.

Review:

I finally got my hands on a copy of the “Mirror Boy.” When I purchased it a few months ago and inserted it into my player there was another movie on the DVD and not “The Mirror Boy” movie.  It was a legitimate copy, apparently there was a mistake at the factory. For more on industry errors see the Nolly-Ghally page. Now for the review….

Edward Kagutuzi plays Tijan, a young boy that got into a fight at school and hurt another boy. His mother (Genevieve Nnaji) decided to relocate from London to her birthplace, the Gambia, so that Tijan can learn his roots. While shopping in the Gambian market, Tijan and his mother somehow separated and Tijan got lost. His mother was frantic and called the police.

Meanwhile, an apparition that Tijan saw the night prior, lured him into the woods. The vision initially appeared in his mirror so he referred to it as the “mirror boy.” Tijan was surprised that the mystical spirit knew every detail about his life. After just one night in the woods with the “mirror boy” Tijan was ready to return home but not before he was given a few mysterious clues.

While trying to find his way home, Tijan collapsed from heat exhaustion and a tribal woman found him and took him home with her. It was common knowledge that there was a reward for any information regarding Tijan’s whereabouts so the villagers traveled to the city to find Tijan’s mother. By the time she got there, Tijan was gone.

At this point his mother got his estranged father involved. She hadn’t heard from him since Tijan’s birth and she traveled to another village to find him. Tijan was later found unharmed but his mother found herself in the middle of corruption surrounding his father, who turned out be deceased, and this added another layer of drama to the story.  

Let’s Talk. This DVD has two parts. It the kind of movie that’s a true journey as it featured an exquisite blend of traditional and modern Africa.

What didn’t come off as believable was the fight between Tijan and his schoolmate. Tijan just twisted his arm and then the boy appeared in class with a sling? The fight didn’t appear to be that serious. The boy’s parents could have been trying to blow it out of proportion but this isn’t indicated in the movie.

Another point worth mentioning is the market scene where Tijan got lost. His mother walked ahead of him and never looked back to see if he was still with her. What mother does that? I think if she were engrossed in a cell phone conversation as she walked through the market it would have been a tad bit more believable that she lost track of her son.

Cinematography, sound and performances here are fantastic. Tijan emerged from the story with somewhat of a relationship with his father and an appreciation of his African heritage, which was his mother’s original intent.  RECOMMEND

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