Netflix’s latest Nigerian film, Ile Owo, begins with the narration of a folktale: a wealthy and powerful patriarch wants to become immortal, but a sorceress tells him his time is up. She can, however, give his sons the elixir of youth and power, provided they sacrifice their wives. Thus begins a tale of intrigue, despair, voodoo, and a whole lot of god vs satan shenanigans.
The audience is then introduced to Busola. She is a nurse, who has a god-fearing mother, a bedridden father, and a cheating fiancé. When all the chips are down, she finally meets Tunji, one of the sons of the wealthy patriarch from the prologue.
Little does she know that a house of horrors awaits on the other side of this seemingly perfect relationship. As intriguing as the premise may sound, the means to the end is needlessly convoluted and mind-numbingly drab. There are no real scares whatsoever. So much so that the audience craves for the clichéd screamer here and a jolter there with some spooky sound effect.
The representation of satan is less horror, and more cosplay, and his machinations don’t really spell out doom as they ought to. Even the big reveal, where Busola finds out that she is to be sacrificed, doesn’t have enough zing. The resolution between good and evil fails to make an impact too. The only engaging bits are the ones featuring Busola and her ring of security provided by her mother.
The performances aren’t bad, but not enough to rescue the film. The plot needed more finesse and focus, and a lot more magic to hold onto the viewer’s attention, who end up staring at the screen for 90 minutes with a straight face instead.
Make no mistake, it is exhilarating to get a glimpse into the Nigerian world of fantasy films. But, Ile Owo, where an interesting idea miserably fails to be executed on screen, is definitely not the place to start.
Ile owo Director: Dare Olaitan Genre: Horror Platform: Netflix Language: English Rating: 2.5/ 5
