Along Bordering Lines

There is a scene early in this movie where the main character Tinuke Badmus (Layole Oyatogun) asks the police officer interrogating her, “What do you want to know, the truth or a lie?”. I suspect the writers of the movie intended it to be a profound moment but instead it was a profoundly unbelievable line which frankly made no sense because the line came after she had been extensively tortured by the police. This scene basically summarizes the entire movie.

A profoundly unbelievable story that did not make a lot of sense and which seemed to ignore that the best thrillers are built around facts, elusive and hidden facts but firmly believable facts nonetheless (For a helpful comparison. See Catch.er). The disappointing thing is that the movie started with one of the most original opening scenes I have ever seen in Nollywood with some children discovering a dead body and ends with such a shoddy climax that seemed to imply that police brutality was somehow acceptable.

Along Bordering Lines fails to have a decent plot or even tell a good story and this is further highlighted by the poor performances by its cast. The true hallmark of a good performance is when the audience begins to see real characters and for a moment forgets that what they are witnessing is just actors. There was no point in this movie where I was not constantly reminded that this was a just a bad movie. The lead detective (Lord Frank) came off as a bad Bond Villain, a disappointing anti-hero with possibly the most baffling backstory I have seen in a long time. The performance of Annie Macaulay-Idibia (and her jarring depiction of obsession), Mofe Duncan (with the ill-fitting clothes) and Layole Oyatogun (constantly providing scarcely credible lines) were decent at their best moments but failed to elevate a disappointing story. Ultimately, this movie, much like Tinukes experience, is torture. Just badly acted torture.