Mathew Adeboye’s short film, Endless, is a rumination on love. The film simultaneously reflects on both the perpetual and ephemeral nature of love. And most importantly, how we mollify ourselves with the former when the realities of the latter befall us. While the subject matter holds profundity, the narrative medium itself lacks the complexity to properly express its subject matter.
Maureen Vincent and Femi Olawole star opposite each other as passionate lovers. They sit atop a mountain and express their love for each other poetically as they enjoy a vista. This scene intercuts with another, in a future where one of them is dead and the other mourns. It gives the film an additional sense of meaning, a eulogy to a dead lover.
Set in Ibadan, and overlooking the vast, infamous brown roofs, there is an earthy beauty to Endless. However, one feels it is more praise for the location than for the dynamic cinematography. But it works, found beauty or manufactured one, the film is pleasant to look at. Likewise, the performances. There is a decency that pervades the entire work.
But on the narrative front, Endless falls short. The subject matter is profound, but the story itself feels insufficient to bear the weight. In certain moments, it feels as though a long poem has been adapted to film without proper narrative responsibility attended to it. It is by no means bad, but it is no world-beater, either.
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