Director😕
Starring. ? Nigeria. 6h 30m.
This is one of those famous epic Nollywood productions that’s probably better to watch as a series but I couldn’t help myself it starts out with so much intrigue I had to watch it all the way through.
A sick and dying woman is sitting in her yard with a friend, she’s unwell, poor but is praying for her son to get lucky and for his good health, her daughter returns from work and calls him for help, if not financial then maybe he can at least come and visit his family, they just want to know that he’s well. Meanwhile he’s partying with stacks of money and girls but tells his sister that he’s been poorly and has no money to give to his family. Meanwhile he’s lavishing gifts on his 4 girlfriends and their friends and their mothers. Eventually he visits his mother, and while he’s disgusted to see the state she’s living in he leaves her a mere 1000 Naira (about £3) What a cuck..
Meanwhile his friend gets into a fight with guy over a girl, and then goes back to his village to rape his disabled mother. It was at this point that I had to take a break. In the next few chapters the film gets real as hell. There are a couple of guys who are down on their luck and they get pulled into a cult by the two charming men mentioned earlier, upon entering this “church” they are both given around 70 million Naira (£148K) which is enough to make all their dreams come true but there’s a price.
I had to watch to find out why these guys are acting in such vile ways to their own family members but once it’s explained it’s actually a pretty cool concept and not something uncommon for any “sell your soul to the devil style of movie”. But from this point on, not only is everything going wrong for every single member of the cast it’s all sort of brushed under the carpet and the ending is rushed and nonsensical. Which is a super let down as I really enjoyed the first 5 hours.
I’ve seen some gross Nollywood films, mostly about cults that deal in fetuses, and others who turn into ghosts to stalk their victims but I’ve never really seen anything that hit quite as hard as this, the idea of a young man raping this mother who seems to have had a stroke and another buying cars for his 4th girlfriend and sending them to university and yet can’t spare some change for his mother, really got to me, it was the factor the drew me into the film, but all that energy fizzled out. There was a rather gory scenes in the run up, one guy gushes over the fact that his girlfriend has rotted in their bed, praising her as an offering, but to who? the dynamics of the cult aren’t explained and opens up a plot hole that you can drive a truck through. But it’s all about being the better man, honor over greed, the message is clear and generally overall it’s an okay story with a pretty good production unlike many others.
Rating 6/10 N
R – Vile Blackmail (2018)
A – Cults on Film.
L – A-Z of Nollywood
Post Discussion
Admit One Film Addict 