Thy Will Be Done

I hold my resolve that the best type of movies are the ones in which no character is innately bad. However, after seeing “Thy Will Be Done”, that statement needs to be adjusted. Now I believe that the best type of movies are the ones in which no character is innately bad nor is any character innately good.

Thy Will Be Done is the story of a successful pastor, Pious, whose life is turned upside down when his first wife, who was presumed dead, shows up again. This pastor, played by Ramsey Nouah, has already remarried his wife of 4 years – Lucy, played by Mercy Johnson.

The initial appeal of this movie is that it begins from the moment you hit play. By the time 5 minutes have elapsed in this movie, all the introductions are done and the story has already started. And it is able to accomplish all this without seeming “rushed”.

The story of the movie, in and of itself, is quite intriguing if you think about it. Imagining a situation where this were to actually happen in real life would be the ultimate conundrum. Therefore, it was intriguing to see how the story would be resolved, and it’s not that long of a wait either as the movie is only 80 minutes long. 

The storyline presents characters that are real and layered. In this movie, there is no amnesic who has been away from her husband for seven years and unaware of her marital status and yet manages to remain…faithful? In this movie, there is no woman who has been married to her husband for four years only to find out that another woman will now share her husband with her and is somehow okay and peaceful and all Proverbs 31 about the situation. And finally in this movie, there is no Pastor who is so evolved that when it seems his world is crashing down around him manages to remain 100% unshaken and all Jobs about the situation.

The movie has real characters with real personalities and real tendencies to go crazy when pushed to their limits. However, the movie is not without flaws.

Even though Mercy and Ramsey and Mary all gave phenomenal performances, the supporting actors pulled down the net worth of the movie. From the actors who played the doctor to the assistant pastor, there are numerous moments where it seemed like lines were just being recited. However, when Enyinna Nwigwe does come on screen – as briefly as that lasted – it was a breath of fresh air.

Obi Emelonye’s big moment as the director was in the interplay of scenes. This was felt especially in the combination of the sex scene between the pastor and wife #2, while wife #1 is in the kitchen chopping carrots.

Towards the end of the movie, when the character Lucy starts to work to regain control of her marriage it begins to feel like Ini Edo’s “While You Slept” but it was still different. Things escalate really quickly in the climactic scene, especially in how we arrived at that scene. Fortunately though, the writer and director retained control throughout the scene so the actions never seemed out of place or random – I’m trying not to spoil it for you. However, even by the end of the movie when the supposed “bad guy” is revealed, you cannot call anyone a bad guy. It is simply a case where humans are put in an extraordinary situation and react differently – ‘humans’ here being the keyword. 

At the end of the movie the story is incomplete. This is because mention was made about Mary’s character, Muna being “not exempt” or “not as good as she makes herself appear” but no explanation is given about this. No one tells us where this daughter comes from or what really happened those seven years.