Itoro

Right now, allow me to declare my biases. I do not like this genre of film therefore I may undersell it a bit. Some thing about border line horror movies just doesn’t strike a good note with me, and while this was a good representation I just did not like it.

The plot is good enough, if not original, the story telling and narrative was interesting enough to keep one’s attention. I did feel that it would have been even better if they had tried to hide the true perpetrator of the things that were happening, it would have upped the suspense and made the overall movie better but that didn’t make the story bad. Some parts didn’t make sense though; first of all if she was so powerful how come they kept beating her? And if holy water can work why can’t prayer? And most importantly how were the little little things that she was doing were supposed to hurt them? The ending was more in lieu with these Hollywood films and I do commend them for not going to usual pastor deliverance route.

Acting wise Emem Udonquak as Itoro was simply brilliant. I was moved by her performance both as a witch and a suffering housemaid. I will even go as far as to say she carried this movie. The other actors, seasoned actors such as Uche Jumbo and Mona Lisa, I felt paled in comparison to her probably because she was an unknown .I hope she gets better and we keep seeing her and her talents(we are supposed to believe that she is 14 shebi?)Keppy Bassey Ekpeyong was not great but he was good, a bit rusty but getting there. On the other hand, the lady lawyer was terrible both as a lawyer and as an actress.

The use of flashbacks is fast becoming an overdone in Nollywood-I’m seeing it literally in every movie- and I am tired of it. Let me just watch a straight forward film please. That said here it would have been so great if they hadn’t revealed everything in both the trailer and the movie title. The special effects and the props were great and in not showing a lot of effects, the quality of the movie actually improved. The makeup/wardrobe however were really bad, Uche Jombo and Mona Lisa looked like ten years older than their actually ages due to bad makeup and I could see foundation stains on the blouses of the actresses. Not cool.

In conclusion, even though I was not overwhelmed by the movie I would still recommend it. But doesn’t it have unfortunate implication especially considering the Calabar children witches’ scandal? And I personally think it discourages from adoption/fostering.