“I Love You Regardless” is a romantic comedy from the tables of Audrey Allen Pictures, executive produced by Tosin Allen and produced by Titi Joseph with Denrele Edun as the associate producer.
The movie was directed by Chibuike Ibe and was released in cinemas nationwide on the 9th of February, 2024.
Although the movie is the cliche hate-turn-love kind of movie, it is also a feel-good relatable story that made us laugh heartily.
Distributed by KadaFilm Entertainment, the movie has an ensemble cast that features new and seasoned actors such as Jide Kene Achufusi who plays Ugonnia, Malvin Okoroafor who plays Olumide, Francis Atela who plays Atela, Dada Oluwaseun, Tobi Heritage who plays Doctor, Akosa Nkem Queen who plays Jasmine, Tosin Pedro who plays Naya, Titi Joseph who plays Tosin, Denrele Edun who plays Ezekiel, Enyinna Nwigwe who plays Chris, Lateef Adedimeji who plays LoveDay, and Tina Mba who plays Landlady, among others.
Set in Lagos State, “I Love You Regardless” follows the lives of Tosin, a veterinarian, and Ugonnia, an upcoming artist who hate each other but are forced to live together in a shared apartment after a cunning house agent rents the same house to them.
It becomes a ‘Tom and Jerry’ kind of situation in the house as each housemate is poised to make the other move out with tricks and traps.
Along the line, it seems hate begins to turn to love but will love conquer all? Will Tosin leave her dapper love interest, Chris for upcoming artist Ugonnia? will one housemate finally leave the house for the other? You have to head to the cinema to find out.
Even though the movie is simple, it captures the essence of romantic comedy, as it combines its fair share of comedy and romance to elicit an equal dose of laughter and awwn from viewers.
The characters brought their A-game to make the movie the lighthearted magic that it is; from Loveday and Ezekiel’s hilarious house agent shenanigans, the nosiness of the Landlady to the cleverly orchestrated pranks and war of words with witty dialogues in Yoruba and Igbo from Tosin and Ugonnia. It is all shades of comedy from the different characters.
The storyline of the movie takes viewers through a journey filled with layers that are peeled off as they journey on.
From the folly associated with househunting to the main characters getting stuck in a shared apartment, then the transformation of the characters from sworn enemies to reluctant allies and ultimately to two people in love is expertly navigated.
The cinematography of the movie captures the energy of the characters, the costuming is appropriate as it depicts who and what the characters portray in the movie.
The soundtrack of the movie is beautiful especially the movie track by Francis Atela, as it plays its part to enhance the overall viewing experience.
“I Love You Regardless proffers” numerous themes that are easily relatable to viewers as the movie delves into different aspects of life.
First of all, The movie delves into the absurdity that trails house hunting especially in Lagos where the process is a jungle. It depicts how the process itself can be stressful, and how house agents can be cunning and unbelievable by showing people dilapidated houses they claim just need a little bit of brush-up.
It also depicts how fraudulent house agents can get when they collect absurd amounts of money for houses that belong to someone else or have already been paid for then claim they can do nothing about it or vanish into thin air.
Then, the movie also depicts the theme of finding love in unexpected places. It shows how love also exists in a place where hatred is the underlying emotion that fuels numerous actions.
Lastly, the movie subtly depicts the love-hate relationship between two major tribes in Nigeria; the Igbo and the Yoruba tribes as portrayed by Ugonnia and Tosin, and from the movie it seems like the main characters deliberately tried to outwit each other with their traditional languages.
They use their traditional languages as weapons and most of all they represent the tribes. Above all, it is all lovey-dovey for the two characters at the end hence the two tribes represented, which is how it should be in our dear dear country.
With all its glitters, the movie has some downers like how the translations of words in traditional languages were not depicted on our screen, this may pose a glitch in the viewing experience of viewers who may not understand these languages.
Also, some scenes dragged unnecessarily and the editing can be better.
Conclusively, we will say that the producers of this movie did well because even though it is the normal hate-turned-love kind of movie, they brought a fresh perspective.
If you are looking for a movie that will not only entertain but also give you a warm, fuzzy feeling as you leave the cinema with your loved ones then “I Love You Regardless” is the way to go.
From us at Kemi Filani, it is 7.5/10 for “I Love You Regardless”.
