By Mava John Joshua
There are peculiarities and cultural traits consistent with all communities called the village, and by extension the people. Some are dictated by ancestral patterns. This has shown its effects in the movie entitled ‘My Village People’.
The movie begins with a scene in the village where Prince (Bovi Ugbomah) is seen attending his sister’s wedding, Princess (Venita Akpofure) to a white man, Roy (Fares Boulos) with an emphatic warning from her to the brother not to get involved with their “village people” due a belief to be unfolded as the movie progressed, putting into consideration that in the Nigerian context “Village People” are a recipe for disaster.
Despite his caution, one of the elders, Ndio (Amaechi Muonagor) with an ulterior motive, introduced his daughter Haggai (Theresa Edem) to the prince. Being a flirt, Prince was supposed to have had a canal knowledge of her but the stern warning of her sister was like a restraining factor.
As they were together in the lodge, he was visited by more of the village people, the trio (witches) of Rachel Oniga, Ada Ameh and Binta Ayo-Mogaji.
After returning to the city, his life begins to take a twist after the seeming interactions with the “village people”, which resulted in his quest for solution.
The fierce contest between the village and marine world led by Sophia Alakija comes to play and this led to the exposure of the fake prayer warrior and pastor, Zubby Micheal.
Zubby Micheal played quite an unusual role as a pastor, a wide departure from his now stereotyped thug roles, and surely he stood out.
The Prince had to consult wide which led to meeting the Prof (Nkem Owoh) who is renowned for insight into Spiritism. He was able to take him quite far for him to discover there was a story behind all the troubles he embroiled himself in.
‘My Village People’ is a return to old style Nollywood horror movies; the local display of the Nigerian esoteric way. Sophie Alakija as the hottest baddest girl of the kingdom was interesting to watch. It would be nice to see her in more movies.
Nkem Owoh shone bright in his role as a ‘New Age’ spiritualist and Dr of Underworld Relations. He came with his signature quick and witty lines, humour and impeccable grammar.
Written by Bovi Ugbomah, ‘My Village People’ has many recognizable faces yet without the “overdo” that Nollywood star studded films are known for. ‘My Village People’ parrots Afro-spiritual sentiments that Marine Kingdom rules. Unlike Eastern religions that have four elements – fire, water, earth, air – Afro-spirituality has hers divided into two; land and water. Water kingdom thunder bends while Earth kingdom fire bends. Everybody just breathes air. (This is a reference to Avatar: The Last Air Bender).
However, some things were not established properly both in the story and in the acting. Bovi being a womanizer: This was the reason everyone found it hard to believe he didn’t sleep with Haggai yet the two times he related with women, he behaved quite honourably. In the first, he let her be when they were not on the same page and in the second case, he really was serious about her.
Bovi’s free spirited non-religious/belief personality makes it hard to believe the speed with which he fell into praying and believing. Thirdly, his portrayal of anguish was really not believable.
And some parts of the story beg certain questions. How come all of them with their powers didn’t know Prince wasn’t the chosen one? Patriarchy? Or just malfunctioning trado-technology? Or it is that coverage area no reach America where Princess dey.
Also, the marine people had reason to want him, him being royalty and all but why did the witches want him?
Directed by Niyi Akinmolayan, the film centers on Prince (Bovi Ugboma), a well-to-do middle-aged man whose life takes a very dramatic tumble after he visits his village for his sister’s wedding. His encounter with the village people he’s repeatedly warned about is what sets the direction and tone for this dark comedic film which also features Theresa Edem, Sophie Alakija, Nkem Owoh, Venita Akpofure, Ada Ameh, Binta Ayo-Mogaji, Rachel Oniga, Charles Inojie, Amaechi Muonagor, and Zubby Michael. With this cast, we have one of the best old plus new Nollywood mergers we’ve seen in recent times.
The story is not entirely new but it is audacious enough to draw applause. With that said, the film is burdened with very obvious baggage, the most prominent of which is its uninspiring dialogue that takes away a lot of its allure. Verbal interactions between characters are wonky a lot of times, and lacking the spark to light up the film’s complicated and mysterious narrative.
‘My Village People’s exaggerated and heavy overdependence on comedic relief is another one of the writing shortcomings that drag down the film’s vitality as a horror vehicle. In this case, the comedy constantly upstages the horror because most of the time, Prince has funny lines for a lot of the dreadful encounters he has. Nonetheless, despite comedy getting in the way of the film’s horror elements, it ends up being its saving grace, as the film delivers moments of genuine laughter for most of its runtime.
