AFRIFF: Today’s sermon, or rather review, will be taken from the book of Matthew, chapter 7, verse 11, which says, “If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children, how much more shall your Father which is in heaven give good things to them that ask him?” Now, this is the passage the creators choose to close The Good Gift with—a neat bow tied around the film’s title. But let it be known, the sermon the film actually preaches, as we follow Uzor, a struggling widower, and his daughter through their relentless trials and tribulations, is one better captured by the book of Job. This is not a story about receiving good gifts; it is a story about enduring suffering while remaining steadfast in faith, even when the heavens seem silent.
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A story by Williams Uchemba, supported by writing from Dare Olaitan (Ile Owo), the faith-based drama leans into the absurd melodrama of a series of unfortunate events suffered by a man who remains faithful to a perfect end. There’s no grand complexity to the story, which allows it to remain focused, but it derails slightly at the end with an unnecessary callback and a cliche-to-a-fault ending. At the same time, the B plots that support the main story are half-baked, and you see where they’re headed too early, and the path they take is riddled with unearned convenience. It’s also unabashedly a vehicle for Christian propaganda, which isn’t necessarily a bad thing but makes for awkward segues.
This propaganda is often well-directed and coloured by director Kayode Kasum (Afamefuna). The framing effectively captures motion through appropriate camera angles, like the bus robbery scenes. Also, the colour pops without becoming distracting. It’s a restraint that supports the simple story.
Starring Williams Uchemba (Merry Men) as the main character, Uzor, he brings a visible passion to the character, which sometimes works and other times falls flat. His co-star, who plays his daughter, is as uneven as him—genetics, right? The rest of the cast recites their lines and moves on because they often don’t feel like characters, and the final scenes— a hostage situation with a Nigerian police negotiator (none of these words should exist together)—are littered with overzealous extras.
The Good Gift could be generously read as a film about a father’s unbreakable love for his daughter but a more accurate description is a film that wants you to look at your material situation and thank God because it could be worse and that, sadly, is less interesting. There is persecution, moments of bible quoting, steadfastness despite it all and a conclusion that rewards this steadfastness in an almost unrealistic fashion. The sermon is over, the church is closed, to God be the glory.
The Good Gift screened at the 14th Africa International Film Festival.
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Side Musings
- Williams Uchemba wears a tank top about twice in this film and he needs to share his arm routine at the gym.
- The vocalist who does the soundtrack is very good. They should release it.
- Why doesn’t Uzor know how to warm jollof rice properly?
- The X-ray shown in the film is pretty good.
