Earlier today, a Nollywood movie ‘For Maria, Ebun Pataki’ was released on Netflix and trust us to bring you a first review of it.
For Maria Ebun Pataki tells the story of a woman who experiences painful childbirth, and the experiences of the aftermath of it’ including the unspoken, and often distressing, challenges of transitioning to motherhood. This movie features Meg Otanwa, Gabriel Afolayan, Tina Mba, and Judith Audu.
For Maria Ebun Pataki which was directed by Damilola Orimogunje is an eye opener on postpartum depression.
The heroine, Derin goes through the throes of childbirth, with some dire and irreversible consequences to her body. And this movie does well to reflect how women don’t usually seem to have their opinions about childbirth and the consequences listened to.
There’s the mother-in-law, whose support is mixed with a sense of condescension. ‘This is just your first kid’, ‘something is definitely wrong with your life’, and similar rhetoric get trotted around due to Derin’s willingness to act towards her new-born kid. There’s the unsolicited and misplaced from people, who are basing that on their own experiences and sometimes a sense of superiority.
Then there’s the husband, played by Gabriel Afolayan, with an attitude of more cheer than empathy. More ‘let’s do something else to distract you’ than understanding what his wife is going through. And For Maria Ebun Pataki communicates the direness and sense of isolation that comes with that.
But the best thing about this movie is without doubt the performance of Meg Otanwa as Derin. The way she expresses all the range of emotions without fuss, but with clarity, is incredible. There’s the discomfort. The sense of isolation and desolation. The way she seems resigned in situations. How she reacts to being touched. She gives everything.
The story line was easy to follow through but the ending was quite disturbing, one would have thought that a positive ending will have followed after the message of the movie had been passed. It crushed our hearts having it end that way. Asides that, it was really an emotional, relatable and enjoyable movie.
