Humour, Love, and Death: a Dead Serious movie review
Dead Serious has an overall funny tone, casting well-known comedic talent, but it flirts heavily with sensitive themes, which can leave some viewers confused and possibly offended.
By Segun Ade-Martins
Preview
When a beautiful young woman, Amara (Sharon Ooja), walks into her local grocery store to buy an item, her gait and demeanour charm the store owner, John (Emmanuel ‘Sabinus’ Ejekwu). Despite jeers from his sister Vero (Tomama) and friend Pato (NasBoi) and competition from her father’s young boss, Deremi (Deyemi Okanlawon), he is adamant about his love quest.
Dead Serious also stars legendary actor Nkem Owoh. Lilian Afegbai, Emem Inwang, and Funky Mallam, among others, also star.
Moses Inwang serves as writer, director, and executive producer of the movie released on February 26 as a Showmax exclusive.
What didn’t work
Tone and Pacing
Dead Serious gives mixed signals with its tone. Casting Mr. Funny, aka Sabinus himself, and merging that with a self-harm theme is a mismatch.
Truthfully, the direction almost pulls it off, but the turn of events and a jarring ‘Public Service Announcement’ (PSA) snap you out of the world of the movie suddenly, such that it is apparent the story is implausible. It can also come across as irreverent.
Also, this movie may have been too long, with a two-hour runtime. It also felt long, which points to pacing issues.
Later, I cover repetitive scenes; if removed, the movie could feel tighter.
Pacing refers to the length of scenes, the action, and the plot revealed. The content of numerous scenes felt comprehensively exhausted.
This is not what you want an audience to feel. I learned you want to leave them wanting just a little more in a scene.
Therefore, start a scene as late as possible and end it as early as possible. These issues emanate from scene design, blocking, and editing.
The dilemma of the characters wasn’t strong enough.
Amara as the story’s main character would have worked better. She had a dilemma more compelling than John.
John tries in love, but I feel he doesn’t have enough obstacles to overcome, although he develops bigger obstacles that tie in with a huge tonal shift.
Amara has two love interests: John and Deremi. She has a loveable character in John, but maybe not her type, and Deremi is wealthy but has a mean spirit and poor behavioural traits.
Amara’s father, Mr. Kalu (Nkem Owoh), forces her to accept Deremi as a match, while he resists John’s earnest advances for her.
The choice for John instead of Deremi is obvious and is not as compelling a story; there was a missed opportunity for a better story.
Repetitive dialogue and scenes
Almost throughout the film, the dialogue is filled with exposition and is repetitive. Early on, we see Deremi request for Amara to come to his house to cook for him through her father.
The next scene is her father telling Amara to go to Deremi’s house to cook for him, with resistance from Amara.
Then the very next scene is Amara complaining to her sister about going to cook at Deyemi’s house.
We got the information the first time; we didn’t need to get it a second or third time.
The repetition of details continues further in the movie with other pivotal plot elements.
The Takeaway
When a film ends, it typically sends across a message or wraps up its theme. The film ends with a strong mental health PSA tying up the theme of suicide.
The ending also teaches us that being rich is the ultimate, based on how characters react in the end.
Being rich is not a crime, but is this the most important consideration?
What worked
The twist worked somehow.
With all said and done, the twist at the end takes you by surprise by subverting expectations and almost making up for some irregularities above. It is a pleasant surprise and makes an audience member leave feeling more hopeful.
Subversion of Outcomes
Typically, subversion of outcomes can be read as artificial and unnecessary, but this time it feels fresh. The only complaint would be to spend a little more time setting it up and revealing twists for dramatic effect.
Unusual stories can be more interesting.
Despite having a mismatched tone and irregular thematic choices that make it irreverent as a whole, it still feels like a fresh storytelling philosophy is on display.
The strengths of this film can make for an exciting style of filmmaking in the future. The filmmakers would have to continue to refine their style and craft to cure the numerous ailing elements and make better stories.
Summary
I rate this film 5.5 out of 10. It is entertaining even though it has drawn-out scenes. There are genuinely some magical moments.
However, some elements were underdeveloped and could be misleading when taking the marketing into context.
Although the mismatched tone is a huge problem, it does find a way around it with the twist in the ending. If you are sensitive to the topic of self-harm, please skip this film.
However, if subverting expectations is something you like, this film could be for you.
I’m curious to know what viewers genuinely feel about the movie, tonal shifts and all. Leave a comment on your thoughts.
Originally published at http://thestrangejournal.wordpress.com on March 11, 2024.
