‘Sylvia’: Swindling the Audience – A Review

Sylvia is a 2018 thriller movie that reimagines the “spirit spouse” folklore. The film, which is Trino Studios’ first feature film is a supernatural and psychological thriller with the existent themes of obsession, romance, love and betrayal. It explores the cause and effect nature of relationships, mental health, and the real versus the surreal world.

Sylvia was directed by Daniel Oriahi and written by Vanessa Kanu, who describes the movie as an exploration of consciousness.

The plot

The story follows Richard Okezie (Chris Attoh), who exists both in the real world and the spirit world: home to his friend and lover, Sylvia (Zainab Balogun).

They go on from childhood until Richard is a man. But when Richard decides to leave Sylvia for a ‘real woman’, Gbemi (Ini Dima Okojie), Sylvia, scorned and furious hatches a plot for revenge.

WARNING: SPOILERS AHEAD

The review

For those of us who didn’t read the synopsis or reviews of this movie going in, it was exciting to wonder for a minute what exactly Sylvia was; a schizophrenic hallucination or a spirit wife. But once it clicked, the brilliance of this movie shone through.

The script

This is arguably one of the best-written scripts Nollywood has ever seen. It actually makes me look forward to watching other projects that Vanessa Kalu is involved with. The delivery problem I usually have with most Nigerian scripts came up minimally in this movie

However, the filmmakers did not properly adapt this script to Nigerian characters and Nigerian audiences. There is so much English that could have and should have been interpreted to relate more Nigerianness; because you could replace all the characters with white people and nothing would have to change.

And this is not really the fault of the writer considering that the actors themselves should interpret a script and tailor it to the character’s person; as opposed to just acting it out. I remember thinking, “Nigerians don’t talk like this”.

For example, the meet-cute between Richard and Gbemi was sweet and well-acted. However, it seems a bit unlikely that it would go that smoothly; because the realities of Nigerianness do not allow for such a trusting first meet.

At first regard, it seems like the script is only this refined because of the generality of the language and tone the writer used to express the thoughts of the characters. However, a culturally blind script can only slap so hard. Refinement does not exist outside of culture; a good script and Nigerianness are not mutually exclusive.

Missing scenes

Yes, this movie had a pretty tight script. But it is obvious that something went wrong from script to screen; the holes are gaping.

Somewhere in the second act, Sylvia tries to seduce Richard in his house and he says, “The last time was a mistake”. But we never even go to see the first time. Maybe the filmmakers wanted to keep it clean but a passionate sexual relationship between Richard and Sylvia would have lent to the tension in this movie.

They could have shown us that passion and intensity in a sexual context and then mirrored it with her passion and intensity for getting revenge on him.

The characters show such heightened emotions without giving us a proper basis for it. This makes the scenes seem lifeless and shallow. Without an understanding of just how deep this relationship between Sylvia and Richard was, we are unable to fully grasp the gravity of the situation.

It feels like the filmmakers cut out scenes that they deemed unnecessary, only for it to circle back with the audience not connecting as much they should.

And for a psychological thriller, this was a big mistake.

There are emotional outbursts without any build-up to it. The audience should be feeling something alongside the characters but we really do not. Instead, it is like we have been swindled out of a good story; left to react intensely to just potential.

The missing scenes and the lack of build-up also results in an inconsistency in the tone of the movie. One moment, things seem serious, and the next, light-hearted. The journey to the climax is winding, but not in an exciting way.

At the beginning of this movie, I was so hopeful because the action picked up fast and expectations were building up. But in the second act, the good pacing tapered off to leave waning energy and surprising outbursts.

Symbolism

The use of the red hibiscus flower as a spiritual link between Richard and Sylvia was essential. Sylvia would give him one to tether him to her world and enable him to return. But once he puts the flower under his pillow, indirectly giving it to her, he unwittingly tethers her to his world. Brilliant.

However, it would have been a lot better if Richard had researched the meaning of the flower; rather than Sylvia spew out random knowledge about the red hibiscus on the dining table. That was a cringe-worthy scene.

Lazy decisions

I have noticed this trend among Nollywood movies in recent years; young characters almost always work for media or advertising agencies. (See Living in Bondage: Breaking Free).

Are there no other types of jobs that young Nigerians do? Why do so many characters always have some sort of pitch meeting or “important account” written into their plot?

Besides that, at the moment when Sylvia goes over to Richard’s friend, Obaro, and slits his throat, the camera should have focused on his face when it dawned on him that Richard was telling the truth. It would have been a nice touch. But we got NOTHING.

The children that played the younger Richard and Sylvia did not know how to act. There are not many good child actors in Nollywood and that is incredibly limiting.

I think at the end of the movie, Richard should not have replied, “I’d rather burn in hell” to Sylvia giving him a second chance. After years of imprisonment in an asylum, maybe the close of the movie should have had an open ending to keep the audience wondering what choice he would make.

I have a problem with the lighting of this film not making dark skin look as good as it should be in cinematic production. Also, Richard’s beard was very obviously fake and it stuck out like a sore thumb.

The summary of the matter is this; they had a really good thing going; a beautiful script, amazing music and art direction. But the lack of emotive building blocks made this movie a shaky one for me. All in all, it was still very enjoyable.

Sylvia was recently made available on Netflix. Check it out here.