Iquo’s Journal

I don’t remember if “Iquo’s Journal” ever went to the cinemas but if it didn’t that was probably for the best. It’s dressed up as something new that will affect you deeply but in reality it’s simply “the same old that almost became something more”.

From the opening credits the story gets your attention, our male lead is seen handing out flyers to women in random spots in the cities – women he meets in traffic, women at strip clubs, women at Opebi-Allen (or whatever derivative it is). They all come together and meet in a rented hall and he tells them the story of his wife.

His wife was from a poor home and circumstances forced her into prostitution. It’s funny how the male lead states what’s on all of our minds in the second half when he says “that’s a tired excuse”. Because, a tired excuse it is. This also doesn’t take away from the fact that it’s reality for many in our country and for some (especially when butrtessed by a lack of education) it becomes the only option. Us, the viewers, sitting on our couches under our tents filled with education degrees and calling it a “tired excuse” is a luxury not afforded to the many who choose this path.

The beginning is exciting because you get a sense that it’s going to be a two-pronged attack, the writer is not just going to give you a sob story, it’s going to give the story and then it’s going to tackle the issue with those who are still alive. Except that never happened! And in failing to do so, that was the singular and most persistent disappointment of the movie.

As far as performances go Kate and Femi do a great job of presenting these torn characters but it makes you wish the story could get past being good and make into the terrain of greatness. If only the writing had addressed Iquo’s story and also addressed how this affected the other women in the hall or how they could move forward after this realistically (in an Uche Nancy kind of way), it would have been so much better.

At the end, we simply get to the last page of Iquo’s journal, the movie concludes, the end credits role and we have a touching story. The issue is not that the movie doesn’t make it’s point, the issue is that 100 movies before also did and this doesn’t stand out.