O.C. Ukeje shines in his portrayal of Ray Chinda in Black Mail, a movie about a struggling actor facing blackmail over his online activity. His career and family life come under threat when cybercriminals gain access to his internet history and threaten to expose him unless he pays up. The movie was directed by Obi Emelonye and set in the UK with drone shots displaying the beautiful London skyline.
One lesson I got from the movie is that we have to be careful about what we do on the internet because we never know who is watching. The movie did well to explore how such activities could be weaponized against us. The result of such an attack was briefly summed up in the stress Ray Chinda went through to prevent his image from being soiled.
The acting in Black Mail is not captivating and also the movie fails to build the tension necessary to put viewers in the main character’s shoes. However, there were times in the movie which had me rooting for him against his attackers. The introduction of Reuben, a character who serves as a significant moral and emotional support to Ray, was timely. The chemistry between these two characters keeps you invested in the movie.
Some of the drawbacks of this movie involve the performances of the supporting cast, most of which fell flat or exaggerated. Alessandro Babalola and Julia Holden, among others, did their best, but the acting quality varies from scene to scene, which affects the film’s pacing and believability.
The cinematography is midrange and couldn’t do much to pull the movie out of the realm of low-budget quality. The movie aims for a Hollywood feel but the color grading lacks the richness of a spy thriller, thereby making most of the scenes feel less atmospheric. These technical shortcomings detract from the film’s potential to be truly gripping.
I must commend Obi Emelonye for the writing, which is one of the film’s strengths. The plot, while not entirely unpredictable, is clever and makes you think about the vulnerabilities we all have online. I don’t know whether to call this movie a Nigerian film or a foreign film with a Nigerian as the lead character. However, the story is not peculiar to Nigeria. If the movie is Nigerian, then I must say its production quality is above the industry, even though it is still below the standard I expect from Nollywood.
One of the film’s struggles is its pacing. There are moments when the story seems to slow down too much, and the tension dissipates. Some scenes feel unnecessarily stretched, and the film doesn’t always deliver its points as sharply as it could have. This makes the experience feel uneven, though the ending does manage to tie things together in a somewhat satisfying way.
The reason why I would recommend this movie is because it creates awareness about the need to be mindful of our activities on the internet. Aside from that, the movie is not something Nigerians who are fed drama and comedy movies would love. It gets a 6/10.
