When the average Nigerian describes the personnel of the Nigerian military, they would most likely conjure up a fearful image of a camouflage-wearing brute, barking orders that are often reinforced with physical violence and the occasional ‘accidental discharge’. Basically, an image of oppression. Who can blame them? The military’s infamy is not a cooked-up stereotype. After experiencing several brutal military regimes and continued abuse of power by military personnel, even in this era of democracy, it’s easy to forget sometimes that beneath those dappled garbs are humans breathing and living just like any other. Like Fela said, “uniform na cloth, na tailor dey sew am.” It is easy to forget the size of their national duty, the sacrifices, and the toll that service leaves on them.
Seun Richards’ At Ease, produced under the First Features Initiative, is a psychological family drama that explores the life of a soldier who has to deal with the battles that rage on in his head after discharge from service. Major Agbo (Asa’ah Samuel) leads his squad on a hostage rescue mission in the Alagarno forest somewhere northeast of Nigeria. The mission goes as smoothly as any soldier would wish military operations to go. However, in an unfortunate turn of events, a bomb is detonated. The explosion wipes out Agbo’s entire squad except himself. After spending considerable time in an induced coma, Agbo returns to life to contend with the deaths of his squad members while also trying to adjust to post-service life.
PTSD is often associated with soldiers, especially war veterans who have seen the horrors of the battlefield. Just like Agbo, who returns home a troubled man, wracked with survivor’s guilt. After his recovery, he immediately starts trying to return to the battlefield. He is only stopped by the military, who deem him unfit for service. Agbo is distraught, but his wife, Lara (Anee Icha), can’t understand why he would want to leave his family to return to the battlefield to grapple with death. Agbo becomes distant from his wife and son, and the symptoms start to manifest—intrusive thoughts, falling into fits of rage, extreme mood swings, heavy drinking, and at the height of it, manic episodes—almost tearing the family apart. At Ease is able to properly show the effect of PTSD on the victim and the people around them, especially friends and family
Although the film is able to stay on theme, several filmmaking flaws undermine the experience. Chief of all is the pacing problem; maybe in a bid to ensure that all of the actions hit their mark, the plot events happen too slowly with too much time passing between every dramatic incident. The conflict of the plot takes too long to set in, and when it does, it takes too long to end.
Apart from this, the film is let down by its weak dialogue. In a film where actions already speak loud enough, the lines struggle to capture the essence of the action, and it ends up visibly throwing off the cast several times. This severely restricts the creation of a convincing chemistry between Asa’ah Samuel and Anee Icha. At Ease is definitely not the film to watch to wind down after a stressful day; one might even call it a didactic film. However, it is a necessary film as it explores a topic that needs more enlightenment—a necessary lecture on mental health issues.
At Ease, written by Stephanie Dadet, is a film that manages to accomplish its purpose—depicting the effect of psychological trauma sustained by Nigerian servicemen on the front lines of war and insurgency—despite its filmmaking flaws. According to the director, who witnessed firsthand the effects of psychological trauma on returning servicemen, his intention is to use Major Agbo’s story to shed light on the experiences of someone living with trauma in a culture that does not sufficiently understand mental illness. The film does just that.
At Ease premiered on Prime Video on October 16, 2024.
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Side Musings
- Although this is a film that might serve as some form of societal empathy for military personnel who are experiencing mental conditions similar to Agbo’s. It is not a story they can completely relate to; Agbo seems to be protected from other societal and interpersonal problems that someone in that situation will definitely face.
- I doubt that the empathy that this type of film might inspire from civilians towards the plight of soldiers will be long-lived if the military doesn’t take steps to curb power abuse by its personnel when interacting with the civilians whose lives they are sworn to protect.
- Agbo saying, “I am not crazy, Lara,” when she asks him to seek help, encapsulates the average Nigerian’s view on mental health.
