Let’s start this off by saying that I neither expected to be as excited nor as intrigued as I am by Flat 3B.
The promotional video that I saw featured a hungover young lady sitting in front of a fine looking young man asking him what happened the night before. Forgive me, but it was not the most original premise and I was willing to skip this one.
FLAT 3B is a three episode per season anthology web-series on YouTube. It is executive produced by Victor Sanchez Aghahowa of Shuga and Dowry fame, and it’s directed by Patrick Nkamiang. The series stars Ihuoma Linda Ejiofor, Mawuli Gavor, Teniola A. Aladese, A’rese Emokpae, Bucci Franklin, and Emmanuel Ozzi. The first two episodes are currently available HERE (and you can watch them at the bottom of this page), and the third episode is set to release online on January 21st, 2019.
SPOILERS AHEAD
The first few minutes – the first six to be exact – of episode one had me counting down to the end but then the six minute mark comes along and you quickly come to realize why the title screen has bleeding paint. I’m still unsure whether I should be scared or laugh out loud while watching this show. It’s not comedic horror in the sense that the “Scary Movie” franchise is, but then again you also don’t know if you should even be scared in the first place.
Each episode begins with a disclaimer stating that the show contains African languages but they would not be subtitled. Initially I wondered the purpose of this was, but as you watch Ihuoma’s character fumble with the phone as she frustrated-ly tries to comprehend what the Yoruba speaking woman on the other end is saying, you begin to understand. By exempting the subtitles you feel trapped – just like the characters. By starting the series in the first moments of the amnesia, you feel lost just like the characters. And as the events unfold you jump from fear, to excitement, to laughter, to wonder, to ‘inquisitiveness’ (if that’s a word) and everything else right along with the characters. You wonder who can be trusted? If you can even trust yourself – aka, Ihuoma’s character because they’ve managed to create a connection between the audience and her in such short time? You wonder what is true and what is a lie? But most importantly, you wonder if you really have the patience to wait till next week to find out what happens.
Flat #3B is a mystery for everyone in a different manner. It’s a mystery for the characters as they don’t know who to trust. It’s a mystery for the viewers because the feeling is shared, but also a mystery for the viewer because each viewer (who understands only one or none of the traditional languages spoken) is only getting a part of the picture and not the whole. So when you go to the comments and someone has been kind enough to translate, then you realize just how great the series is/has the potential to be. Hats off to the writer because I haven’t thought this intensely about the layers involved in a Nigerian work before? In fact, I haven’t thought this deeply about any series/movie since the last episode of “Black Mirror“.
My only hope is that the beauty and genius of the story/concept isn’t lost on the viewers who have only shown up to see Mawuli in that confused red apron.
“Aunty, did you sleep in the cupboard?”
“Come uncle, how did I get here”
“Eeh, I like sleeping in the wardrobe. Aunty, we were all drunk”😂 I’m glad to see that I’m not the only one going around adopting family members in the name of insult. #Flat3b
— Oge (NR) (@NollywdREinvntd) January 19, 2019
Kofa
Muri & Ko
