Bro Code is a new Nollywood movie about romance and the world of bachelorhood. Austin Nnaemeka directed it, and it stars Atalanta Bridgette, Daniel Etim, Etomi Okoka, Majid Michael, MC Lively, Mike Ezuruonye, Nancy Isime, Ornela Opah, Stella Charles, among others.
The movie tells the story of how women, through the pains they suffer in relationships, transform men from being players to loving spouses. For instance, the case of KC, who started treating his lover better after she showed him how to do so. Although I don’t like the plot, I must acknowledge that Daniel Etim did well in portraying KC.
Another standout act is Mike Ezuruonye as Chris and his girlfriend Lara, portrayed by Nancy Isime. His plot sees him leading one girl along towards marriage while cheating with another. The movie generally tells the story of bad boys who suffer no consequences for their actions simply because the women in their lives choose to absorb it all to win them over. That explains why Arinze, portrayed by Majid Michel, still retained his girlfriend despite emotional abuse and r@pe defining their relationship.
The dialogue in this movie is not engaging, as it is sometimes full of unnecessary chatter and monologues, almost as if it were written to fill up time. Bro Code appears like a Rom-Com but fails to create any funny scenes or something exciting that the genre is known for. Despite watching the film at the cinema with high-quality speakers, I could still sense the poor sound design. The picture quality is average. I wonder why Nollywood colourists love to keep their pictures exposed. Such shots ought to be relit using power windows to darken unwanted edges, thereby keeping the viewers’ eyes fixated on the characters.
In terms of costume, I love the white with a touch of red Igbo traditional outfit worn by the three friends at Chris’ wedding ceremony. The atmosphere at the ceremony, especially the set design, was sparkling clean and beautiful..The design made the low-key wedding look expensive than an expensive wedding.
Bro Code features sexual scenes, which I believe were included to compensate for its flaws and lack of a strong plot. I think Nollywood needs to start casting young men between 20 and 28 years of age for bachelor roles. It will make the movie feel natural and appealing to actual young people. That will be better than the male cast with real age between 30 and 50 years.
One reason why I won’t recommend this movie is that it has the potential to normalise the bad behaviour displayed by the male characters. It also makes it seem cool for women to tolerate nonsense, even when there are better options available. The directors failed to demonstrate that such behaviours have consequences horrible enough to deter viewers from imitating them. I rate Bro Code 5/10 due to its poor technical aspects and weak storyline.
