NO WAY THROUGH: DUTY BEFORE CONSEQUENCES

A Movie Review

Directed by: Chinaza Onuzo

Released on: December 8

Language: English

Stream Site: Amazon Prime

By putting 10,000 thoughts in my head at the same time, the film made  a mental mess. Many thoughts of so many things as the movie progressed dominated my mind. Does this really happen? The twists, turns, mishaps, and beautiful suspense are all interestingly part of the plot and did nothing else but beautifully sparked our interest and keep us hungry for more. The movie revolves around Jolade stuck in the crossroad, lost and confused if to rat the cartel to the NDEA and risk the punishment of betrayal or if to tell the boss.

Directed by Chinaza Onuzo, the movie, Just like other of his movies, seamlessly delivered on optimal directing and casting. Starring A-List actors who did nothing else but succinctly interpreted every role they were given.

The movie revolves around a mom, Jolalde, portrayed by the very talented, Funke Akindele. She played the role of  a mother that will go any length to make sure her child is okay and healthy even if it meant, turning against that cartel that js always means for her  since her Husband’s death. Portraying the role of a sacrificial but determined mother, Funke perfectly embodied the role and left no space for crumbs, acting like her and being there, absolutely fearless to appear vulnerable or scared to wane.

The crime thriller is one that tells the story of love, betrayal, trust, etc. The representation of love was seen clearly in the mother-daughter relationship shared by Jolade and Ejide portrayed by Roberta Oroma the mother daughter relationship shared between them is admirable and it was so real that we looked for the awkwardness in the scene Ejide Confess her love to her mother but there was none, it just felt real.

Watching Chidi Mokeme play the role of a pastor seemed so out of place but the reason unveiled itself in the following scene when we discovered he is the lord of the cartel. The first in command. Shocking and unexpected. Just the perfect cover and another typical day and scenario in Lagos. Watching him acting all calm and making sure to wrought no direct harm on anyone has to be the most out of place character we have watched Chidi Mokeme played in a long time and as usual, he seamlessly played the perfect daddy. Calm, coordinated and peaceful while still being lethal.

Chioma Chukwuka, Playing the role of Rachel did nothing short of perfect when representing the role of the unpredictable wife, she was the chaos the pastor was not and his polar opposite. The very active pope junior playing Lotanna, is seemingly just a continuation of who he has always been. The very active and scary guy and as usual, though short, was worth it. Telling the story of betrayal, between him and Jolade i don’t know which surprised me the most. But I do know the scene where he was willing to rat out the apostle and his guest for $500,000 is a glaring scenario of what happens in every crime syndicate. They always at the end of the day want to get on top.

Emotions and work or work ethics don’t go hand in hand, Christian artistically played by Ikechukwu Onunakwu showed this to us as he ended up making avoidable mistakes after the death of JJ which landed him in jail for the crime of Murder  after the cartel has been bursted. Jude at first had an enemy from me, It was annoying to watch him so unperturbed and inconsiderate of things that went in the pursuit of answers. Much later, I understood why he had to be unaffected. Seun Ajayi that portrayed the role of Jude, just ate the  role and left us awed at the ease with which he did. It’s quite ironic that I can’t tell the exact moment in the movie I went from wanting to strangle him for being that nonchalant to like how calculating he was through the movie.

The movie was perfectly on point in every aspect — casting, sound and video quality, and even to scene transition. The way we easily went from one scene to another while carrying us along is commendable and a Great work done by Chinaza Onuzo, the director of this impeccable acting.

By Miracle Marcus