Nollywood Movie review: The Visitors: a light in the dark

Yes, it took a long time coming, but someone has got to review this breathtaking movie - The Visitors.

I got to see the movie recently, on Iroko Tv's website and believe you me, it was worth every bit of my Megabyte spent...

The Visitors is a movie I'ld place in the Thriller genre. It was produced and released in cinemas last year.

However Iroko Tv seems to have recently acquired the sole rights to movie... as it is only available to its subscribers(PLUS).

The Synopsis: Arome a young man in his thirties is on a quest in search of a job. In his frustration, he encounters two (2) strangers who tell him things about his past and present life – even things he is ignorant about. One of the strangers, a woman in her fifties is perceived to have a dual personality – a pretty young attractive lady in the sight of all except Arome, she seeks for help from Arome. Arome’s fortune changes. He is suddenly faced with death after being caught in a web of indecision, mystically he’s alive. Now he’s left with a puzzle. Who are these strangers whose images fade away even from pictures, leaving no trace of who they are. Some mysteries are better told. In the world but not alone.

After the seeing this movie, I said to myself: "this is more like it!" Nollywood is finally getting the drift.

The movie is one based on TRAVELLING ANGELS and like most of its kind (thriller genre),it tries to fuse the supernatural/surreal world with the real world and from what I observed, it turned out relatively ok. Ok in the sense that, the fusion of both worlds was sort of believable. The screen/script writer, Obed Ekele did a good job. Writing such a suspense-filled script and still keeping it real and simple is not easy, trust me. The continuity was good. The cinematography was kinda average though, but did justice to the movie sha. The visual effects was for me below par. It's a Nollywood thing though, so no qualms. 

The only glitch in I observed in the story, was at the "REALIZATION" i.e the moment when a movie's loose ends are tied. It was here that I realized that Mercy (Joke Silva) was multi-faceted. Arome(O.C Ukeje)'s ex-fianceé, friends and eventual bride were perceiving Mercy as a Rihanna-look alike; Arome on the other hand was seeing Mercy as a very beautiful and elegant lady in her fifties. This TWIST kinda threw me off balance at first because, the persona of Aunty Joke Silva( Mercy) that O.C Ukeje(Arome) was seeing, was a woman in her fifties...beautiful enough to make a grown man cry. And I believe the aim of this TWIST was to add more suspense, by making Arome and the audience surprised; it was an epic fail. Why? Because, if Arome's friends were having the hots for Mercy and O.C Ukeje wasn't even surprised because she was indeed very beautiful. Then it shows that the other (Riri look-alike) personality wasn't needed because both personalities are very beautiful. The persona of Mercy(Joke Silva) that Arome was seeing should have been an old ugly woman. This would would have made him and us  (the audience) to wonder why his  friends were hitting on Mercy when all 'we' were seeing on screen was an ugly old woman; thus heightening the suspense. But it wasn't so, hence the aim...was lost, just as I was too. The multi-faceted TWIST wasn't necessary at all. Let's look at it this way; if the persona of Mercy that Arome perceived, was an old woman. Then he would be surprised that his friends were having the hots for her, not knowing that while he sees Mercy as a MAMA, his friends were actually seeing her as a RIHANNA. Bingo! Then the TWIST will be just a perfect addition to a quasi-flawless movie. You dig?

To cut long tori short, Aunty Joke Silva (Mercy) was at her very best, in terms of diction delivery, her ever radiating smile and whatever it takes to get the job done professionally. In short, she was on point...I give her 4.5 out of 5 stars.

My guy, O.C Ukeje (Arome) - the rave of the moment - put up a stellar performance; he didn't disappoint at all. The guy is so believable. He truly deserves all the accolades he's been getting of late. I give him 4 out of 5 stars.

Rolly Ajomiwe (Goodness), relatively a new face to Nollywood movie buffs, played the the second  TRAVELLING ANGEL. His performance was somewhat believable. I'll rate him 3.5 out of 5 stars.

The other actors (Larry Koldsweat and Co) performed pretty good. In all, I must say I really enjoyed this movie. It's been over a year since its release, but it is still worth seeing. Hurry, go see this movie now! Your VISITORS might just be around the corner waiting to help. Bless...