By Naomi Salami
Notably, the Nigerian Netflix film, Before Valentine, though rich in humour and wit, with plenty of drama, is completely low in ‘romance’.
The Mitchell Bello-directed movie, which debuted on February 11th, 2022, is really nothing to be excited about if you are a fan of romance. However, the movie was able to make its way to the Netflix’s top 10 movies this February. Before Valentine was set in the city of Lagos and it focuses on the lives of four hairdressers who, regrettably, ran into unforeseen drama the day before the much-anticipated Valentine’s Day.
Before Valentine movie introduces us to the key characters and their lifestyles, all of which appear to be so ideal at first glance, but things aren’t always as they seem. Things take an unexpected turn when Tamara (Meg Otanwa), an intern at the salon, receives a visitor who is mistaken for her father until it was revealed that he was her husband. This opened the floodgates to many secrets.
Credit: FilmOne on YouTube
The perpetually upbeat Sugar (Uche Nwaefuna), who appeared to have everything she needed, was just a regular city girl struggling to survive in Lagos. Additionally, Chika, who was considered the most religious of the group, had a vile secret of her own that caused her relationship to have a tragic end on her birthday.
This movie imparts a priceless lesson by warning us not to believe everything we read or see about people’s lives, especially on social media, because it’s possible that some of it isn’t the actual portrayal of their lives.
We couldn’t help but be impressed by Venita Akpofure’s faultless portrayal of Chika, who kept us entertained the entire time with her hilarious antics and “Mummy G.O” attitude. Although as the day goes by, we get to see her from a different perspective.
We were unable to sense the romance in the film, despite how inventive the dialogues in the film are. After all, the movie is a romantic comedy. But it appears that they give the comedy more attention than the romance. Due to several storyline flaws, the movie also has a feeling of being rushed. For instance, we are unable to determine how Sugar’s (Uche Nwaefuna) mother discovered the salon in the first place; this is a puzzle that leaves the audience confused.
The character acting was excellent, especially the mesmerising performances of seasoned actress, Ngozi Nwosu, who is always a treat every time she appears on the screen. Among the numerous outstanding actors are Uche Nwaefuna (our delightful sugar), Shawn Faqua, Yvonne Jegede, Ben Lugo Touitou, and many more. However, if the plot had been developed significantly more, their acts would have had more of an impact. Shaffy Bello, DJ Sose, and Dr. Sid made cameo appearances, but they didn’t seem to add anything. They appeared to have been included merely to amuse the audience, but we are all aware that this was a limited purpose.
In particular, for those who were too absorbed in the film to notice its problems, filmmaker, Michelle Bello did a superb job of making this movie worth viewing. Each scene’s location was carefully chosen, and the lighting and cinematography were also good. Great work was done by the wardrobe and makeup teams in bringing additional colour to the film with their creativity. They are deserving of high praise.
Despite its flaws, Before Valentine is a cheerful movie that provides some much-needed humour.
Check out Before Valentine on Netflix today.
