Forgive the title. It is a little judgemental and suggests there is a behavior associated with people who wear this hairstyle, but I am only being an annoying Nigerian elder. Just like how certain hairstyles are associated with certain professions? I think jheri curls are artsy (or pastoral if you count a certain man of God and his followers), and should not be worn by a doctor of marriage! As Chimamanda Adichie alluded in her 2009 TED Talk, “The Danger Of a Single Story”, “the problem with stereotypes is not that they aren’t true, but that they are incomplete. They make one story become the only story.” So this one time, I raise my brows skeptically at this therapist who has on jheri curls, and I am eventually proven right about his sketchy nature as the film progresses. 

The Silent Intruder is a psychological thriller that explores a stalker-therapist who sometimes preys on the vulnerabilities of the couples he counsels. Usually targeting the wives, he obsesses over them and lures anyone he falls in love with. This is usually after he has stalked them both in real life and on social media. 

Directed by Uyoyou Adia (Hey You!), this film particularly focuses on the experience of a couple, Mr. Dave (Kachi Nnochiri) and Mrs. Catherine (Uche Montana), who is advised to see a marriage counsellor, because of Catherine’s emotional and sexual dissatisfaction in the marriage. Mr. Zaki (Pere Egbi) of Zaki Bond Relationship Counsellor is the recommended therapist. Their first session with the jheri curl-sporter is a foreboding of the incredulous events that are to come in the sinister film. 

Mr. Zaki seems to have taken inspiration from Joe, the unhinged character from the Netflix show, YOU. Like Joe, he thinks his intentions are good, and that his obsessive stalkerish behaviour motivated by selfish interests and lust, is borne out of protective chivalry. But unlike Joe, Zaki is neither sweet nor likable. Even when he tries to come across as loving, his evil intentions lurk just behind his eyes. The man is delusional and batshit crazy. It is not the intention of the film, but he comes across as one preoccupied with his own good looks, and like he would kiss his reflection in a mirror. So per the first paragraph of this review, what runs through my mind the entire length of the film is that I cannot believe anyone would go to a jheri curl-sporting therapist to help solve their marital problems. 

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In the same vein as Mr. Zaki, there is the stream of sexy consciousness and effort at sensuality that permeates other parts of the film. Sometimes a person masturbates to porn, or carries out explicit sexual acts, in a way that is a little foreign to Nollywood. Foreign, in that we are not used to seeing such explicit sexual acts on TV, so it’s a little startling. Sometimes you shake your head and whisper an “eww” because well…things start to become uncomfortable. (Have we hacked what it means to be alluring and sexy in Nollywood yet?)

One of the other things that strikes you while seeing The Silent Intruder is the sheer number of foreign names. Catherine, Carrie, Dave, Kita, etc., that are not very fitting for a Nigerian film. It seems like a non-issue but is it really expected that in a group of 7, no one bears a clear Nigerian name? Perhaps it’s a class thing. The accents, the lifestyle, the kinds of conversations they have, that they even think to see a therapist. Maybe, maybe. The names just throw you off a little at first. This portrayal of the young Lekki middle class reflects the evolving landscape of New Nollywood while also depicting the influence of foreign cultures on the millennial population, highlighting the complexities of identity in a globalized context.

Another thing that you notice, or that you’re bombarded with, are the aerial shots of Lagos and its coastlines. The same aerial shots every few scenes. A curious case really, is that you start to wonder what is being advertised. Another “technical” thing (because there are many things to see here) is the rampant use of scary music and effects when the slightest thrilling thing is on screen, that at some point you begin to nurse a valid fear that the speakers might pop out. If the lead character’s meticulous looks and jheri curl didn’t stand out, the other title for this piece would have been “Plenty Ominous Music Doth Not a Thriller Make.”

As the film ends, your blood pressure is shot up by the exciting confession and fight scenes that churn your stomach. The general impression of the film is not settled; there are many plots in this one story and each new one hits you before you get to process the last. But even if Zaki is unprofessional on many counts, or Catherine is unnaturally naive and trusting, you leave with a sense of appreciation for the story. Psycho thrillers are not a genre that Nollywood explores much and this is a fair offering. 

So do you want to develop trust issues with your partner? Or infuse insecurity into your fragile relationship on emotional and sexual counts? Then this film was made just for you. Cakes and sweet love professions are predictable and boring, pick an interesting fight this love season with this watch. 

The Silent Intruder premiered on 9th January 2024, in cinemas. 

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Side Musings

• No one really has a sense of situational awareness here. A strange car starts driving immediately after you, and you do not notice?
• A lot of beautiful women. 
• There is a prominent lack of what to say about the film in general, perhaps because many new things kept unfolding in a way that was not smooth. 
• I have a thing against internet personalities in films but this was a fair performance, from the ex-BBN housemates. 
• Why do people, during a bloody fight, not finish off their enemies when they have a chance to? Why do they walk away after just making them fall?
• I know that somehow a story must bend to accommodate the writer’s ideas but who leaves his or her phone with a stranger in a restaurant to visit the restroom?!
• It is worth mentioning again that the sociopath Mr. Zaki is corny in his display of sexiness.