Starring: Ini Edo, Venita Akpofure, Joseph Benjamin

Synopsis:

After the sudden death of her husband, a woman is further traumatized when she learns of her husband’s secret child conceived during their marriage.

Review:

Kimberly and Emeka’s ten-year marriage was still going strong when tragedy struck. Emeka was found in bed having an attack and after being rushed to the hospital, he died. 

Kimberly was devastated and shortly after, Najite (Venita Akpofure) appeared in her life to announce that she was also married to Emeka and that he fathered her young son. Kimberly was naturally shocked but didn’t quite believe Najite’s claim even though she saw a marriage certificate and wedding photos.  

But Najita had an agenda and it wasn’t long before it surfaced. She felt entitled to a share of Emeka’s assets and this caused a war between the two women.

Kimberly was determined to get to the bottom of who Najite really was but she found herself in a psychiatric ward before doing so. Her friend, Tega (Joseph Benjamin) helped her to escape the facility and together they investigated and discovered that there was indeed a history between Najite and Emeka but it was very different from how Najite presented it. 

Let’s Talk. Women with agendas is the name of the game. This is a drama where two women claimed they were simultaneously married to the same man. It’s sort of similar to the Nigerian movie, “Torn” but the outcome here was different. 

The movie took us full circle: from a love triangle, to Kimberly’s bout in a mental institution, to her budding romance with Tega, and then back to a life with new possibilities. 

For the most part the film had snail pacing and was too long. For instance, there’s a scene where Najite visited Kimberly’s home to break the news of her secret marriage to Emeka. Instead of getting to the point, the scene needlessly dragged while Najite perused the home and made idle conversation. The delay may have been the writer’s tactic to build suspense but it instead felt like manufactured tension between two strangers. 

There’s yet another annoying scene where a prostitute handcuffed her customer to the hotel window and escaped with his money. It was jarring to watch because it was completely unrelated to the story and we had no idea who those characters were.

Seconds later it became clear that the scene was actually a film being shot by a director that Kimberly wanted to information from. So basically it was a movie within a movie. Sigh…Did we really need to see this? Totally unnecessary. 

Here’s the biggest fault – the filmmakers didn’t invest enough time in Kimberly and Emeka’s marriage. We saw them interact for a few minutes and then Emeka was dead. Familiarity with Emeka was needed. What was it that Michelle loved about him? Was it because he knew how to play fight with her? Honestly, that’s all we saw them do. 

Based on Kimberly’s dialogue, it seemed that the heart of her marriage was that Emeka loved her even though she couldn’t have children. That’s huge and it’s certainly a good reason to love a man but there should have been one scene where we got to hear Emeka say this. I’ve said a million times, show us don’t tell us. This one scene would have revealed Emeka’s character and it would have also provided the connection to him that was missing in the story. 

It’s understandable that the writer may have wanted to be vague when it came to the Emeka character so that intrigue would be created when Najite was introduced to the story but the downside is that it negated the history of Kimberly and Emeka’s marriage and consequently undermined Kimberly’s emotional impact. 

The psychiatric clinic scenes…so Kimberly was diagnosed as a mental patient just because she had a fight with Najite? Bogus. 

Speaking of Najite, I didn’t quite understand the character. One minute she was a b*tch and the next she was a victim of circumstance. It’s not clear if her portrayal of the character was due to direction or her own devises but this is yet another instance where the movie felt artificial.   

On an up note, the story did raise valid questions regarding the rights of both women as Emeka’s wife and as for technical issues the movie was a production of fine quality. 

Performances? The part of Kimberly was an ideal role for Ini Edo to play. She nailed it as the recently widowed, emotionally distraught, woman. Although I believe Venita Akpofure has potential, and I do hope to see more of her, I don’t think she was the right fit for her role. 

Obviously, I was dissuaded by this movie – the story, execution, and editing wasn’t the best. The only thing worth watching was Ini Edo. EJECT