Ijo Review (short film)… production sabotaged this awesome film

Year: 2021
Genre: Marriage, Romance
Cast: Charles Etubiebi, Genoveva Umeh
Director: Fatimah Binta Gimsay
Writer: Fatimah Binta Gimsay
Cinematographer: Prince Uti
Summary: Debo walks down memory lane to ponder on his shaky marital relationship with Molara

Overall Rating: Beignets
Ijo definitely took us by surprise because we came in thinking it was going to be a regular story but left totally speechless 😮
~Worth Watching~

Delicious
—The introductory scene immediately struck our curiosity with Debo (Charles Etubiebi) being addressed by a woman we couldn’t see. Then, the next scene threw us right into the main plot without wasting time
—We always love when filmmakers use little resources to make something grand. Ijo had two characters, two locations, and two costume changes, but a striking story.
For 14 minutes, we were given the scope of what this couple was dealing with and became emotional with them. Using dance as a healing tool was a good symbolism
—Charles Etubiebi and Genoveva Umeh (playing Mols/Molara) are a force to reckon with. They just unleashed all their feelings through the dialogues and body language that we…don’t even have the words to say how we felt. It was very very deep 😑
—Well-written lines that pierced our hearts
—It was good to see Debo dancing at the end so we could get to experience the art, a nice closure to the film
—It’s hard to talk about the lessons learned without giving away the story…But we’ll just say communicate, communicate in marriage

Bland
—The production, regrettably, didn’t do justice to the actors who rendered a grandiose performance. Weak audio and inconsistent color grading were a big issue that slightly disconnected us. The cinematographer didn’t make use of diverse angles to elevate the mood of the film anddddd we saw a quick hand motion from the camera operator in front of the lens 😖
—How was Debo’s best friend able to get information concerning Mols’s situation when he wasn’t the next of kin?