Lockdown is a Moses Inwang-directed comedy-drama, a movie so full of stars that there’s a recognisable face in almost every scene. Thespians like Omotola Jalade Ekeinde, Bamike Bambam, Paul Okoye, Tony Umez, Sola Sobowole, Deyemi Okalanwon, Ada Ameh, Chioma Chukwuka-Akpotha, Nobert Young and Josh2funny grace our screens.
From Ebola to Covid-19, the once strange concept of a pandemic has become hauntingly familiar and as art often imitates life, of course, we have filmmakers the world over drawing inspiration from these harrowing times. This is one of such films.
The movie follows a series of events that drew inspiration from the Ebola disease outbreak in 2014. A handful of strangers with totally different agenda head to a hospital where they are eventually locked down due to the admission of a foreigner with a contagious disease known as the “Holo Virus”, a classic case of being in the wrong place at the wrong time. Face-to-face with the unease of being spontaneously placed under a 21-day quarantine, each individual must either team up for survival or put their lives at stake in search of an escape route.
Movie trailer. Credit: YouTube
The movie is the story of the outstanding Nigerian medical practitioner Ameyo Adadevoh, played by Omotola Jalade Ekeinde who goes by Dr. Njoku. It is a tribute to Dr Ameyo Adadevoh that she was credited with having curbed the spread of the Ebola virus in Nigeria, and in the process paid the ultimate price.
Moses Inwang’s casting in this movie is exceptional: Ini-Dima Okojie, Josh2Funny, Jidekene Achufusi, and Tony Umez each deliver notable performances with the acting and theatrics as a group of blighted individuals trapped in the New Calvary Hospital. Omotola playing Dr. Njoku, the centrepiece of the story pulled off an excellent performance. Her take-charge attitude is the perfect foil to her moments of vulnerability that peek through in her dazzling performance. Omotola has always been a tour de force and she delivers once again.
The pacing of this film is so well done. The plot at first appears to be a straightforward black and white narrative, which sets the stage for all the subtle and not-so-subtle twists and turns. It is worthy to note that the cinematography crew captured the opening scenes excitingly, from the brouhaha of the city to people rushing to meet their daily goals, the procession of events engages viewers. For such a serious movie, there are bits of humour interwoven. Not overdone, not slapstick to cheapen the plot, but as a vehicle to lighten the otherwise heavy themes of the film, it works.
As always, it can’t all be rosy. The aesthetics in this movie are not particularly pleasing nor are they convincing. The nurses’ costumes are questionable, and they could easily be mistaken for nurses from an 80s movie set. The special effects makeup used to imitate injury was also unimpressive and look like mock-ups. The slow-motion scenes added no particular spice to the movie and could have easily been left out.
As the story progresses, none of the central characters seems to understand the import of possibly dying from a horrific viral infection. Which is the focal point on which the plot hinges. Everyone seems rather preoccupied with their lives and the people outside are more concerned with other trivialities. Yes, life goes on but the possibility of dying rather horribly, one would think, would be front and central to the narrative, no?
Also as straightforward as the story appears, its implementation is its Achilles heel. The plot is left with numerous pitfalls and giant question marks.
It seems to have become regular in Nollywood adding countless unnecessary scenes to a screenplay to up the run-time, dragging what could have comfortably been a one-hour forty-five-minute movie into a two-hour thirty-minute movie. Towards the end, it started to feel a little bit like a piece of work getting to the finish line.
All in all, Lockdown is one of the better ones. It is a screenplay worth seeing. If suspense-packed comedies are your thing then go on and give this movie a try. It might inspire a few eye rolls but it manages to hold its weight.
Didi Dan-Asisah is an art enthusiast and critic. She lives in Lagos.
Ayodelé is a Lagos-based journalist and the Content and Editorial Coordinator at Meiza. All around the megacity, I am steering diverse lifestyle magazine audiences with ingenious hacks and insights that spur fast, informed decisions in their busy lives.
