Inside Life is an ensemble of young actors and new faces mixed with some legends, bringing a breath of fresh air to Nollywood which is of late saturated with movies starring a consortium of actors.
Written by Tonia Chukwurah and Olumide Kuti with the director as Clarence Peters, Inside Life stars Gift Ndah, Aina Gold, Khaira Bashir, Jigan Babaoja, Tonia Chukwurah, Abimbola Kazeem, Ujams C’briel, Rachael Emem Isaac, Celia Okechukwu, Princess Obuseh, Uzoamaka Onuoha, Gabriel Afolayan, Jide Kosoko, Scarlet Gomez, Zack Orji, Taye Arimoro, and Gregory Ojefua, amongst others.
The story reveals the dark secrets of Lagos City through the struggles of a man seeking survival, a devoted sister’s fight for justice, and an ambitious woman’s struggles. If your aim is to view a movie that portrays abuse as well as social and economic injustice, then this series is the show to binge-watch.
This six-part mini-series reveals a lot about why many remain in Lagos despite the city being a perfect description of a lion’s den. It also reveals why people remain in a terrible situation because outside of it lies no survival. This pretty much describes the silence of a mother in the face of s*xual molestation of her daughters by their father.
Gregory Ojefua plays the molester. Once again, this actor impressed me with his versatility. I don’t think I’ve ever seen him play a similar role. He’s always playing different roles, all of which he nails perfectly. Another good act was displayed by Gabriel Afolayan, who, to me, can never deliver anything below standard in terms of performance.
Inside Life, though very good, still failed to deliver a good story because it was disjointed and somewhat confusing towards the last episodes. The film lacks a thought-provoking soundtrack, making certain scenes less captivating to me. This robbed me of the enchantment the dialogue of the film aims to deliver.
Costume-wise, Inside Life does its best to match the story. Most of the characters were going through rough periods, and therefore, the costume designers didn’t need anything other than sack-looking clothes. The outfits spoke of depression, anxiety and, in most cases, hopelessness. The tattoos on Gabriel Afolayan didn’t look real. I thought the directors should have done without it because it failed to make the actor look badass.
Inside Life is full of lighting effects. Some of the orange and teal looks were achieved through lighting. The cinematographer did well in creating tense moods with the lights. However, I didn’t think the use of red and green lights in some scenes was perfectly done.
This film boasts good character development. Sadly, some plots left me with questions that exposed the weak writing that made up the show. No backstory was given concerning the girl who took over from the Queen and sat comfortably in the position as if she had been taking notes from a distance. The silence of Chiamaka in the face of her father being poisoned by her stepmother seemed awkward to me. Also, what were the writers of the film trying to achieve with the kidnapping and murder of Titi?
Despite my reservations, I must commend the producers for delving into the world of depression and hopelessness to give us this movie. I rate it a 6.5/10.
