Voice Of A Mother

This film perfectly displays how an interesting concept can be ruined by clichés and lack of imagination. Halfway through I was very pleased with it, it was interesting and intriguing to me however at the end it was all I could do not to tear my hair out. I was disappointed and sad because the storyline is so original and can potentially be great.

I’m going to address the great part first, the acting. Of course Mercy Johnson delivered, when has she ever failed but it was not a role that called for stressful acting at all. Eniola Badmus is the boss; she was very good as the border-line abusive Yoruba woman that you can still see loves her daughter. Clem Ohameze is good but more importantly the young girls are the stars of this show. It was like a Living Nightmare reunion with all but one of the five girls returning. And yet again I have nothing bad to say about their performance. And again I can only hope to see more of them in the future.

The plot. The plot started out so original, so fresh , so new but then towards the end it was like the film gave up the ghost and just let it lapse into stupidity and predictability. There were some great scenes owing to the acting prowess of the individuals but too many storylines had no bearing whatsoever that just died a swift soundless death. It could have been so much better without the decision to stretch it to four hours and to rush it at the end. Plus I felt that they had spent so much time building it up, but the results of the switch were not given the proper examination it deserved. Characters acted in unnatural and unlikely ways, the relationships made no sense and the supposed villain off the piece just came out on nowhere. I was fully prepared to give this film five stars at the middle, that’s how good it was but then I was very disappointed. Any other film attempting this concept has been ruined because it will no longer be original and predictable.

The opening credits were very innovative and the soundtrack wasn’t bad. It was actually a good movie except for the script. The directing was superb, so many great individual scene done perfectly.

In conclusion, if you can prepare for disappointment and have four long hours to spare then you will have no issue. It has some truly great scenes however if you do not suffer foolishness then don’t bother oh. It was sweet that MJ’s daughter was called Purity, really really sweet.