Many people were expectant and excited when they heard Gabriel Afoloyan produce a movie. Considering he is a fantastic actor from a family of successful filmmakers, there were high expectations of the movie U-Turn by Gabriel Afolayan. But, sadly, the movie didn’t meet expectations at all.
U-Turn is the story of a poor taxi driver (Ebun Oloyede) and his passenger (Gabriel Afolayan), who he carried from Lagos to Ibadan. The film centred around their journey from Lagos to Ibadan and the different hassles they faced while going. We also saw that Gabriel planned on killing Ebun Oloyede while the latter also planned on using him for money ritual. The big question then is; who got out alive?
Before discussing the storyline, I want to ask the producer why the film is related to Nollywood Movie, Soole? That aside, what exactly was the aim of U-turn? What message was it trying to pass because I am still trying to wrap my head around the movie? It was boring except for little comic relief, and I couldn’t help but ask myself why we are being subjected to such a degree of punishment. There were also too many unanswered questions; for instance, why did Gabriel Afolayan want to kill Olaiya Igwe? Why exactly was Gabriel going to Ibadan? Who was the French man who called Gabriel towards the movie’s end? What is the relationship between the introductory scene and the whole movie? Then the dialogue is another problem I don’t want to get into right now. Honestly, I couldn’t wait for the movie to finish because it felt like I was under torture.
The fact that Gabriel also directed the movie would leave me nothing to say. But then, he needs to explain why some scenes were annoyingly unbelievable. For instance, why would you have a gun in your box and leave it in the car in a lonely bush? Anyway, let me move on from here.
The acting was beautiful, and Gabriel Afolayan will always be exceptional. The casting was also perfect because having Olaiya Igwe act with him was a good scene. Good acting would calm you down if you are angry while watching the movie. I must say they brought their A games to U-turn. Other actors like Tina Mba, Jide Kosoko, although they appeared briefly did well too.
There isn’t much to say about the costume, makeup and cinematography, but it wasn’t bad at all.
For the effort Gabriel Afolayan and Ebun Oloyede (Olaiya Igwe) put into the acting, I will be rating U-Turn 2/10.
