The House of Secrets Review… the momentum got lost after the climax
Year: 2023
Genre: Politics, Investigation, Crime, Thriller
Cast: Najite Dede, Efe Irele, Shawn Faqua, Kate Henshaw, Femi Jacobs, Funlola Aofiyebi, Emeka Nwagbaraocha, Anee Icha, Keppy Ekpenyong
Director: Niyi Akinmolayan
Writer: Niyi Akinmolayan, Dolapo Adigun
Cinematographer: Barnabas Emordi
Summary: Sarah, a recently discharged psychiatric patient, holds crucial information that can make or break the upcoming presidential election
Overall Rating: Beignets 
Many thanks to Niyi Akinmolayan for coming up with such a fresh and original plot.
The movie was a blast from the beginning to the climax, then it slowly began to lose momentum and credibility
~Still Worth Watching~
Delicious
—The House of Secrets was a house of innovation: the set design, characters, and story were a fascinating blend that ignited our curiosity.
We wanted to know everything: Who was Sarah? Why was she in a wheelchair? Why did people force her to spill out some information? What crucial information did Sarah have? Why did Sarah’s house look so perfectly designed?
And the sound effects tremendously helped usher in a suspenseful and mysterious aura, it was gripping🤓
—Najite Dede (playing Sarah) truly earned the main role because she carried us on her boat. She was physically weak but mentally sharp and inquisitive, and gentle in spirit.
She nailed the traumatic sequences when struggling to remember the past, we believed her.
Of course, of course, how can we not mention Shawn Faqua’s and Efe Irele’s passionate vibe? Their romance added a softer side to the film’s mysterious mood
—Kudos to the editor for producing smooth match-cut transitions between the past and present scenes, it elevated the flow of the scenario making it easy to understand
Bland
—We started spotting a lot of holes in the story after the climax:
-Why didn’t the general just brutally torture Sarah to retrieve information or even kill her rather than place her in a mental asylum?
-How did Kate Henshaw’s character safely escape a burning building with important information when there was a group sent to question her?
-How did people figure out someone’s address by simply finding a Facebook profile?
-What happened to an essential character like Dr. Badmus (Femi Jacobs) after the climax? He just briefly reappeared at the end
-How does a person locate a hiding place inside an unfamiliar house that’s burning?
—It was obvious the fire effects were computer-generated as people were standing close to a burning house instead of staying away from it.
The fighting choreography was quite passive and the way people were killed didn’t seem convincing.
All of these misses worked against the credibility of the screenplay making it less interesting
—We, unfortunately, cannot bypass Funlola Aofiyebi’s over-exaggerated acting which removed the elegance of the scenes😖
—Sarah kept on praising her husband Panam for being a great man, but there wasn’t anything special about him:
This is the guy who wanted to kill a baby, the same guy who handed her high-profile information rather than hiding them himself (why would you endanger your wife’s life🤔), annnnnd he was a smoker (a habit that Sarah despised)
Viewers’ Guide
Language none Violence
Trailer
Available on
(Audio: English; English Subtitles: Yes)
