While the film shows flashes of brilliance through its mood-driven storytelling and strong performances from Bimbo Ademoye and Adaobi Dibor, it ultimately struggles to sustain tension.
Cast: Adaobi Dibor, Bimbo Ademoye, Taye Arimoro, Damilola 'The Goldfish' Ogunsi, Toyosi Benjamin, Mawuyon Ogun, Pamilerin Ayodeji, Diana Egwuatu, Jemima Adelekan, Chikere Bright, Abdulaziz Oladipupo Esho, Magaji Rasaki, Ifeoluwa Ogunriola, Adewunmi Adebayo, Taiwo Ogidan
Director: Yomi Adejumo
Run time: 1:46 mins
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Streaming Platform: Amazon Prime
The Nigerian movie industry is expanding beyond its traditional focus on family dramas, comedies, and 'owambe'-themed offerings into more intense genres.
While some may ascribe this diversification to access to better technology, increased professionalism, and the influence of streaming platforms, the role of storytelling cannot be overlooked.
With better stories being told, Nollywood has embraced a wider range of cinematic genres, including political thrillers and crime stories.
Enters 'Thicker Than Water', a psychological thriller that breaks storytelling conventions.
Plot
Onome (Bimbo Ademoye) and Ese (Adaobi Dibor) are two sisters who grew up attached, despite their apparent differences.
Abandoned by their father's family, with a critically ill mother to cater for, both sisters had to grow up faster than they should, working even before they became teenagers.
As young adults, Onome, the eldest of them, couldn't handle it, so she split. Ese was left alone to fend for her sick mother. A year shy of graduation, her mother died.
However, when news reaches her that Onome has disappeared, Ese, a photojournalist, drops everything and travels to Ile Adegbami to search for her sibling.
All she has to go by is a black book, her sister's journal, and Kazeem (Taye Arimoro), a town resident.
The book details Onome's love affair with Ola (Damilola Ogunsi), her pregnancy, and the ensuing relationship conflict.
With little information to embark on her search, Onome discovers a secret island in the community.
She returns home one night to find that her apartment has been broken into, but nothing has been stolen.
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Goaded by posters of missing people that dot the town, Ese decides, against Kazeem's advice, to visit the secret island to search for the truth.
Nothing prepared her for the following paranormal activities and the stark reality that nothing is as it appears.
Review
Based on its storyline, 'Thicker Than Water' is a brilliant psychological thriller without conceptual suspense or grit.
Movies of that genre do not necessarily need to be terrifying, but should at least pack an unnerving slant. 'Thicker Than Water' is none of that.
On the positive side, the movie boasts of moments of promise, from the cryptic church door, Ese's persistence, to the unsettling mystery caller.
All these fragments come together to form a deeper psychological film.
Viewers may enjoy the Director's use of parallel editing to juxtapose Ese's unravelling state of mind with the life her missing sister led.
However, the tension that should build from this structure never fully materialises. The film's slow pacing peters out any form of suspense viewers would have experienced.
'Thicker Than Water' is a commendable attempt at mood-driven storytelling, but the Director ultimately opts to play it safe, leaving viewers more curious than shaken.
Verdict: 6/10
