A SONG FROM THE DARK - MOVIE REVIEW // THE OPENING SEQUENCE COULD HAVE BEEN BETTER

Whilst watching this movie, for some reason, I could sense some characteristic similarities it shares with 'Us,' the 2019 movie which starred Lupita Nyong'o (Hollywood Kenyan-Mexican actress).
Upon research, I found that 'A Song from the Dark' was indeed, amongst others, inspired by Jordan Peele's 'Us'.

Source

Ogo Okpue, the writer, producer and director of the movie, in a statement mentioned that he draws inspiration from the big weights whose works align with his niche in the horror/thriller/Sci-Fi side of things(paraphrased).
The award winning director and motion graphics designer, Ogo. has this movie as his debut feature film.

PLOT SUMMARY

This Nigerian-British horror film follows the harrowing story of Ashionye (portrayed by
Vanessa Vanderpuye) a Nigerian who later migrated to England after losing her father, Obia (played by Yinka Awoni ) in the most devastating circumstances.
Ashionye would later become an exorcist(ghost-hunter) working with her paranormal business partner, Marv (Alexander Scrivens) who exploits her; taking huge chunks of the proceeds from their ghost-hunting contracts and handing her peanuts.

The deal-breaker hit when the duo are contacted py Ashionye's benefactor/guardian Isioma ( Nse lkpe Etim) after the gruesome and unexplainable deäth of her ex-husband Magnus (Wale Ojo).
All hėll is let loose when it appears that the
entire family is haunted by Anioji, an aggrieved vengeance-seeking-blood-thirsty evil spirit/demon. Worst still is when the family seems to be hoarding a dark secret.
What will be the fate of everyone involved? Best pelieve you're in for some edge-sitting, gripping. heart wrenching, jump scare moments

MY THOUGHTS

While this movie is interesting for those who are used to the dynamics of films within this genre, it however started in a manner that i considered somewhat confusing and disjointed, so much that it would keep your brain going in a back and forth motion. Actually, the synopsis of this film got me fascinated. But as I started
watching, i got so bored and pissed.
The movie, was in a way, uncoordinated with abrupt ends to certain scenes, in my opinion.For persons with zero patience and tolerance for slow-starting movies, they could easily tune away. The splits and breaks and short chapters and durations did not favour the film.
Perhaps, making this into a limited series would have made much sense and would have availed the producer time enough to build the characters for better understanding.
But hey! Stick around, it does get better. Or maybe not! The movie picks up in the later part; becoming really engaging, drops off somewhere along the line and picks up right back until yhe very end.

Role interpretation from some of the actors was also inconsistent especially from Dimeji Ewuoso (who plays the character of Dare (Isioma's son).
Injury detail is also slightly flawed in the scene where Dare hits his sister's (Timi's) head on the floor multiple times persistently and the very next minute, she's up, not looking concussed nor bleeding neither bruised. I had my mouth open at that
Costume wise, the use of similar afro-looking wigs for the ladies in the ending scenes didn't help matters much as you could hardly tell them apart! The last song in the end too sounded nore English than Igbo even when it was sung in the lgbo dialect.
There were however subtle lessons to learn
from this

I love the narrator's voice. Such dexterity! It added a layer of enjoyability to the film. The
graphics and cinematography were superb. Of course, this is to be expected given the producer's area of expertise.
Nollywood's Nse lkpe Etim and Sir Wale 0jo did great but not their best acts. I think Ogo drew from their popularity to sell the film. It worked regardless.

Overall, this was a good story but it could have been better as it's more of a thriller than horror-horror.
The producer Ogo Okpue says he's
committed to rolling out movies in this genre. He'll get better at it and we're here for it.
Just because this was a nice film and Ogo's first film and because there's room to improve with later works, I'll give this a 6/10

Thanks for stopping by
SOKA 🖤

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