Ovy’s Voice

If you are like me, you read the comments on irokotv before you press play. Why? Because there’s a lot of movies and there’s only so many hours in a day. In the comments for this movie, there were people saying how they’ve watched it 3 times, 4 times and even 5 times already. You start to wonder? Really, all this just can’t be the Mofe Duncan effect right?

Ovy’s voice is set up as a love story between the mute, Ovy (played by Bisola Aiyeola), and the good looking rich son (Anaan – played by Mofe Duncan) of her favorite customer Mama G, played by Shaffy Bello.

Let me be honest with y’all and set up all my presuppositions (gained from my beaucoups of years of nollywood viewing): 1) I assumed Mama G is fine with loving the mute girl until she wants to marry her son… then the craze woman mother-in-law will show up. 2) If we’re lucky and it’s just a simple romance, then they fall in love, have a sweet romance and being the rich boy that he is he takes her to some American hospital and she gets her voice back (because all disabilities can be fixed in nollywood-land).

Even if the story does go along the line you think it will, it ends up being much more than that. This movie is an hour and a half long and by the hour mark I supposed the story line was done. I mean, all our chips were in place, female lead has fallen for male lead, what else is there and most importantly? Why is this what else taking a whole half hour to resolve?

There are quite a few standout features of this movie (which is a lot to say because most nollywood movies can barely manage one). The first is the writer. The writer manages to make a romance that is sweet and endearing, takes you along the journey, and is still not dragged out or too rushed. There are points where you kind of know where the storyline is and the writer and director give you space to embrace it, and even though you knew it was going to happen it still feels new.

Second standout feature is performance – most remarkably Bisola Aiyeola as Ovy. For the most part of the movie she is just writing on boards and shrugging her shoulders. However, in the one scene at the hour mark where things change between her and Anaan (if you’ve seen the movie, you know what part; and if you’ve not, you will know it when you see it) she manages to depict a world of emotions without ever saying a word.

Then there’s Shaffy Bello as Mama G who manages to embody the mother-in-law you wish you had, and Uche Obodo who apparently has learned how to tone it down much to all of our gratitude. Then there’s Mofe Duncan for the girls dem. Since Chasing Rainbows, it seems Mofe is becoming our new John Dumelo. Like with John Dumelo, I feel very similarly about Mofe (and we’re not going to bring up the need-for-gym conversation here again). There are scenes with Mofe where you feel like he’s trying and then there’s scenes where you feel like he’s not pushing himself enough and he’s just coasting.

Then there’s the story itself. Just when you think you have it pegged for a certain type of film and you know where it’s going it flips the switch and becomes more. It’s originality is not from being so “brand new” of a storyline but from flipping the storyline at a time when the audience least expected it and pulling it off brilliantly.

And then there’s the music, anyone else catch that male rendition of Di’Ja’s “Awww” in the middle there? From the jump the movie hits you with the music and it’s above par.

Ovy’s Voice is a very sweet and simple watch that captivates you in a ‘bed of roses’ kind of way and then proceeds to wreak havoc on your emotions when you least expect it.