Let’s get this out of the way: Suspicion is a terrible title, especially for what turns out to be a good film. Apparently, the film started out as a short released in 2008, titled The Suspicious Guy. But calling a thriller “Suspicion” is about the same as slapping “Conflict” onto a drama. The film could have done with a title that better espoused its themes, characters and story world.
Stan Nze stars as Voke, a man who was fortified with powers as a boy by his mother. Voke tries to lead a normal life while keeping his family’s secret. His friend, Rogba (Uzor Arukwe) and his goddaughter, Lolu (Ashafa Sakamoto), mean the world to him, and so does Chisom (Omowunmi Dada), the woman who has his heart. He does everything he can to ensure that they are safe and well. He cannot always meet every need, but he tries. On the day everything changes, Lolu is abducted by hooded figures who appear to be impervious to bullets.
Voke and Rogba try to hold these assailants off but while the former is essentially the friendly neighborhood Superman, the latter has no such abilities. Voke returns to his mother and begs her help in finding Lolu, but even with her powers of premonition, she is unable to offer much information; all she has for her son is a warning: “You’re my only child; be careful.”
Suspicion reminded me of many old Nollywood films featuring the supernatural in varying degrees. Whether it was witches taking bird-form or native doctors vanishing and reappearing by resting their backs on a wall, cheap visual effects were used to bring our urban legends to life. This of course led to a vicious cycle where more people believed in the legends because they’d seen these films, and so on. I remember a classmate in primary school describing a strange and supernatural encounter they had which sounded suspiciously like a scene from a popular juju movie at the time.
Where Suspicion differs from the above is in its structure and execution. As far as execution goes, Tosin Igho, director, editor, co-writer (with Kolade Igho), creates a storyworld with rules and consequences. In this setting, juju (or magic) exists, and some families can sense it and are able to wield it; others cannot. There are also consequences for using an overpowered ability like teleportation. This creates opportunity for conflict, both internal and external. Structure-wise, the story is kept as tight as possible and while the twist might not work for everyone, a lot of elements are set-up and paid off fairly well.
The technical side of things leaves a little to be desired. While creative lighting and editing choices are used here and there, they do very little to elevate the film and are sometimes almost distracting. The fight choreography is better than I have seen in Nollywood in a while (maybe I haven’t been keeping up with our action films enough) and it does a good job of showcasing Voke’s abilities. And feeding into that previous conversation about vicious cycles, a couple of the visual effects reminded me of old Nollywood.
The best performance comes from Uche Chika Elumelu (The Wait) as Onajite, with how she’s able to switch seamlessly from a woman with revenge in her eyes, to one who breaks down just reminiscing about the man she loved. Tina Mba (Breaded Life) shines, as always, injecting some much-needed pathos into the role. It’s hard not to sympathize with her as she laments the possibility of her burying her only child. Stan Nze (Rattlesnake: Ahanna Story) is fine enough, never terrible, but never compelling either; his character is the audience-surrogate, even guiding us through with a voiceover narration, but at times, he is too much of a blank-slate. Omowunmi Dada (Ayinla) is the most inconsistent, but this should probably be laid at the director’s feet. A lot (as far as plot and character are concerned) hinges on this character but necessary care is not taken to endear her to the audience, so her characterization feels inert, and the twist, when it comes, doesn’t exactly wrench our guts.
Beneath the artifice, fight scenes, and superhuman abilities, the film poses a question: “When the chips are down, will you keep your head down in the presence of evil, or refuse the temptation and do what is right?” This is what Voke’s journey is about. Many people wrongly think that if they had powers like superheroes, they would be on the front lines, fighting injustice and evil, but powers (just like wealth and status) might just make them more of the same person– inconsiderate and self-serving.
I went into this film with no idea about the premise and as such, with zero expectations, and I came out mildly impressed. You’re going to see worse films than Suspicion. You definitely already have. But we’ve been asking for well-made small-scale films that are distinctly Nigerian (while having universal themes, of course), and, in a sense, Suspicion delivers.
The nearly 2-hour runtime flies by. That’s a triumph for any film.
Suspicion premiered on Prime Video on November 28, 2024.
Share your thoughts in the comments section or on our social media accounts.
Keep track of upcoming films and TV shows on your Google calendar.
Side Musings
- There’s a lot I’d love to say about the twist, but I wouldn’t dare spoil it. Perhaps in an essay a year from now.
- Tosin Igho directed Nneka, The Pretty Serpent (2020), and from what I remember, Suspicion is a noticeable step-up.
- More well-told Juju Fi stories, please. They can be action, drama, thriller, or even comedy.
