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By Amadi Chimaobi Kingsley
African spirituality, locally termed juju, is often portrayed in Nollywood films as “black magic”, practiced with vengeful, greedy, and sometimes murderous intent.
Even when movie characters resort to juju to solve problems in desperate times, they soon suffer for it and are shamed by viewers and other characters in the film, who judge them and accuse them of choosing a “dark path”.
Suspicion reminds one of many old Nollywood films featuring the supernatural in varying degrees. Whether it was witches taking bird-form or native doctors vanishing and reappearing by resting their backs on a wall, cheap visual effects were used to bring our urban legends to life. This of course led to a vicious cycle where more people believed in the legends
However, through his own Urhobo ethnicity, film director, Co-written by Tosin and Kolade Igho, explores African spirituality in Suspicion from a unique and intriguing angle, one so different that it prompts a re-evaluation of everything the mainstream media has ever portrayed about juju.
The use of Juju (black magic) was well done to an extent. It established that Voke is from a family gifted in the dark arts, hence, the powers he possesses. It is refreshing that something relatable to the African society was chosen for a paranormal movie. Juju is not a foreign concept, so, choosing that, in telling a tale such as this, and going on to show how his gifts helped him in his battles, made for an interesting watch. Juju being used as just a tool of investigation, and not necessarily portrayed in a negative light, was a new experience.
The special effects were also well done, it did not look tacky, there was no annoying sound to show the Juju was in effect, or anything of such. There was this scene, where a certain old man was narrating what happened to Rogba (Uzor), to Voke (Nze), the use of special effects in the storytelling was brilliant. It’s a standout scene for me.
Another thing that worked was the acting performances. Stan Nze and Uzor Arukwe are brilliant actors, who never disappoints in executing their roles. Stan had a rather muted performance as Voke, his emotional range in this was a bit flat, and I’m choosing to believe that’s what the character was supposed to give off; muted, especially after his many losses.
Uzor, as Rogba, pulled a little more heartstrings with his distraught disposition at the kidnap of his daughter, but Tina Mba’s dilemma when her son, Voke, sought her help to save the woman he loved, quite possibly, snatched the plaque from Uzor’s grip as far as emotion-laden performances go.
Omowunmi Dada (Chisom) is the most inconsistent, but this should probably be laid at the director’s feet. A lot (as far as plot and character are concerned) hinges on this character but necessary care is not taken to endear her to the audience, so her characterization feels inert, and the twist, when it comes, doesn’t exactly wrench our guts.
The lady who plays Onajite (Uchechika), although present for a few scenes, had the most emotional range. Kalu Ikeagwu’s performance as Tony, was also a decent highlight from this movie, he brought a sprinkle of humour to this Thriller.
Despite their limited screen time, Tina Mba and Ron Mgbatogu deliver convincing performances as Voke’s parents. Especially the latter whose character is confined to a wheelchair and only speaks telepathically to his wife — his performance is so good that even though we only hear his voice through his wife’s thoughts
That’s enough for what worked. Let’s move on to what did not work, for me, in this movie. The first thing that did not work was the dialogue; specifically, the use of language. The pidgin English was not well done, it did not sound like the actors were native speakers of the language most of the time. In fact, aside Onajite and maybe Rogba, everyone else who spoke pidgin here, sounded almost as bad as Ryan Reynolds did when he spoke Igbo in that X-Men movie. It just kept grating my ears. I don’t know why the language did not flow as well, but yeah, it didn’t work like I assumed it was supposed to.
Another issue, how Voke’s powers are¹ gotten is not made very clear; yes, we see his mother soak him in some charmed water in the opening scene, but we don’t learn how these powers come about; is it hereditary? Do you get it once you’re soaked in that water? Is it a combination of both? We also don’t learn what his powers really are, his mother mentions he is one of few people with more than 2 powers, but she doesn’t state what these powers are. We see he can stop bullets and can’t be pierced by normal harmful objects like a bullet and a knife, he can also tell when juju has been used, but there is no explicit mention of his exact powers. It can be overlooked because there is only so much depth a movie can sink into, but it would have been nice to have its powers clearly stated.
It is perplexing to wonder how the murder weapon seemingly travelled from the hands of Lolu’s killers to a certain murder suspect four years later, and then to the real killer. More importantly, how did the suspect, who had nothing to do with any of the murders, come to possess the murder weapon while the real killer was using it? This does not add up.
Also, that Lolu girl was not a very smart girl for the duration of that kidnap scene, because what do you mean they shot the man that had just saved you, and you just stood there, waiting for them to come and snatch you up? Why couldn’t she RUN? What happened to your survival skills?
All in all, Suspicion was a very good watch, and should be rated a 6/10.
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