Written & directed by Awal Abdulfatai Rahmat, Penance is a 2024 Nollywood drama with a runtime of 1hour 44minutes.
PLOT
This movie delves into the past and present escapades of Mr. Majekodunmi Alowonle ‘Majek’ who is the CEO of a reputable company where youth corp member Alice Martins serves as her PPA (Primary Place of Assignment).
No sooner had she resumed duties serving the fatherland than she’s traumatised by a disturbing incident. She opens up to her sister and accuses Mr. Majek, her boss of a grave offense.
Investigation is underway chaired by Detective Festus Obosa questioning Mr. Majek as he vehemently refutes the allegations leveled against him.
Now, it’s her truth, his truth, and THE TRUTH!
MY TAKE
This movie left me with mixed feelings about whether to be impressed or not. The story is foolproof. However, the direction and delivery are not.
While the role of Mr. Majek isn’t Wale Ojo’s best performance yet. However, Uzoamaka Onuoha playing Alice shines bright and promising.
Gregory, the Apple-chewing detective, as well as Nonso Bassey, is playing Mr. Majek’s barrister seemed to have pulled in their weight, yet their interpretation could have made more impact if they weren’t trying so hard to impress, thus giving off superficial vibes, more like forced energy.
I really don’t get the need for Alice’s sister’s friend’s role (sorry, no pun intended). That character was absolutely not necessary. Speaking of which, that scene(s) in London were also uncalled for. The acting there from both actors who played Mr. Majek’s wife & the other as his business associate (or was he also his brother?) left little or nothing to be desired. The performance was flawed - too fake.
Whatever aim the director of the movie was trying to achieve failed to hit Target. From the driving of the BMW and the show of its interior to a driver who answers a phone call holding her phone to her ears in such a sophisticated car where you’d expect some hands free mobile navigation…well, let’s just say, she isn’t tech savvy and people have bad traffic habits everywhere irrespective of location. So I’ll let them off.
Initially, too, it was confusing where the actual setting of the movie was - London or Nigeria. This cleared out in no time, though. A little editing with captions of locations would have carried the audience along, which would have given the movie that extra layer or feel.
Although this movie is suspenseful in a way, the loopholes therein albeit give the plot away before the twist in the end so much so that it consequently deprives viewers like myself that shocking-wow-effect In as much as I’d like to blame this on having watched too many movies in this genre or theme, one could easily tell from miles away judging by body language, injury details, etc.
This movie tried to highlight how victims get blamed for their predicaments, as seen in detective Festus’s first approach or response to Alice. This, however, faded away and wasn’t fully explored. Instead, it deviated to a detective who appeared to have a personal vendetta, which equally got lost in transit. No back story, no established motive.
One thing I can take home from this film is that the past has a way of catching up with the present, albeit karma doesn’t always happen in real life the way we expect. In his next life, Mr. Majek would wish he had never met Alice.
On the whole, had proper attention been paid to details limiting the number of actors and keeping the story simple with a better direction, this would have had a far better outcome. It is nonetheless a worthy watch…just don’t expect too much as it’s on average.
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