The Weekend

... of the week as you can guess, but also of tradition in a sense. Well "tradition" would be more apt to be honest. Now I am not sure if you are aware of Nollywood - sounds familiar? Maybe because you compare it to Hollywood and even Bollywood? Well if that is your comparison you are not completely wrong - we have the industry of Nigeria churning out movies ... in mass production of sorts.

Most movies are quite over the top - and not in a good sense. Now this is reigned in - and still you may find some of the acting ... unbearable to say the least. So suspension of disbelief is important ... almost as important as not letting the end ruin the rest of it. Or the wife who is all over the place emotionally and mentally ... not to mention jumping from one conclusion to another - without any rhyme or reason. We may have a man of substance here ... but the story is void of it (I assume some would say that) ... still good effort overall and nice effects (though I assume the ratings board in Nigeria does not allow certain things to be displayed vividly)

Many of us look on the concept of "family" as sacred and unassailable. But, if someone were to stringently advise you against meeting his or her relatives, it may be a recommendation worth heeding, as seen in this intense Nigerian horror thriller. When a young woman (Uzoamaka Aniunoh) who grew up as an only child under a single mother pleads with her fiancé (Bucci Franklin) to introduce her to his family, he emphatically recommends against it, insisting that they're not the kind of people that she should want to meet. However, his lack of elaboration as to why only steels to resolve to make this happen, eventually prompting him to reluctantly relent to her wishes. They thus set off for a weekend visit to the rural village of his parents (Gloria Young, Keppy Ekpenyong-Bassey) for their golden wedding anniversary celebration. Once there, though, his family's dark secrets slowly emerge, leading to the disclosure of shocking revelations that live up to all the advanced billing attributed to them. To say more would reveal too much, but suffice it to say that the trip discloses much more than what the young bride-to-be had bargained for. In telling this story, director Daniel Oriahi serves up a perfectly gruesome tale filled with lots of good scares and a deliciously macabre sense of humor that grows progressively more campy with each passing frame. Indeed, it's the kind of yarn that will leave viewers nervously laughing at events that they probably think they shouldn't be giggling about, but therein lies the film's carefully crafted guilty pleasure appeal. Admittedly, those qualities may not be as readily apparent as they probably ought to be in the picture's opening act, leaving audience members thinking that the narrative is unduly mean-spirited, but those developments are all integral to the setup for what's to come, a foundation that allows this offering's wicked humor to surface in all its grisly glory. The filmmaker deftly presents his material for maximum shock value but without becoming gratuitous or grotesque, quite a feat for a movie like this, one very much in line with the principles of Hitchcock's Rule that one's imagination is far more effective in conjuring ghastly images than anything the director could possibly depict on screen. "The Weekend" is thus one of those pictures that will evoke notions of what it feels like to whistle one's way through the graveyard at midnight on Halloween, leaving viewers with lots of good frights but nevertheless secure in the knowledge that they'll emerge from the theater well and intact, able to face yet another day, even if it means occasionally looking over their shoulder to see that there are no unwelcome relatives following them home.

The Weekend is a 2024 Nigerian psychological thriller directed by Daniel Oriahi, starring Uzoamaka Aniunoh as Nikiya and Bucci Franklin as Luc. The story follows Nikiya, who is eager to connect with her fiancé Luc's long-lost family. However, what starts as a warm reunion soon takes a dark turn, uncovering shocking family secrets.

The film made history as the first independently produced Nollywood movie to premiere at the Tribeca Film Festival in June 2024. It also received high praise, leading the 2024 Africa Movie Academy Awards with 16 nominations and winning Best Film.

At its core, The Weekend explores how hidden family secrets always find a way to come out. Nikiya's curiosity leads her down a dangerous path, proving that searching for the truth can have unexpected consequences. The film reminds us to trust our instincts-things are not always what they seem. Ultimately, it delivers a chilling message: the past never truly stays in the past.