Movie Review: Treachery

Producer: Muyiwa Aluko

Director: Muyiwa Aluko

Screenplay: Mariam Nwaringa, Emil B- Garuba, Chijioke Oniowu

Cast: Wole Ojo, Nancy Isime and Mawuli Gavor

Year: 2017

Treachery is the story of how greed could ruin a reputation and people.

Ife (Nancy Isime) is the daughter of an influential oil tycoon; she marries Remy (Wole Ojo) who we expect is the love of her life. Ife does not have a clear direction in life. Her only interest is in money she did not work for. And on the day she marries Remy, we begin to perceive traces of her interest in the best man Ovi (Mawuli Gavor). With minimal efforts, she gets the best man to start a relationship with her. They flourish in sin, until Remy finds out about this relationship. He tries to leave, she convinces him to stay, they get back together, and he confesses that he has stolen some funds, with the help of her father from the family company. She steals the money and invites her lover to kill her husband. While at it, she kills her lover and flees to Ghana to start a new life.

The establishment of characters in “Treachery” does not help the viewer connect with the story. Who is Ife? What is her main motive? Why is she so cold? And does she really care about anybody, even her father? These are questions that are almost answered by the film, but never get answered. Romance is a heavy part of “Treachery” and while that is the focus of the film for the better part of its show time, the intrigues come when the CEO of an organization steals from his own company in collaboration with his son-in-law. Despite its concentration on sexual encounters, “Treachery” ends up a story of greed. The stolen money gets passed around, and in a more subtle course of action from what we saw in Ojukokoro, we see the least expected character end up with the bag of the money.

Nancy Isime has been involved in many film productions recently and while she has been doing an exceptional job, she is being typecast. She plays a similar role to the one she has played in “This is It,” “Gidi Blues,” “The Surrogate,” and “The Script.” She is the dead gorgeous girl in these films, sexually tempting and has nothing more to offer. We understand that even that takes work; however, we are concerned that she will get relegated to playing the same roles through her career.

Nancy takes the credit for elevating the mood in “Treachery.” Wole Ojo does not offer a lot of substance here, and Mawuli Gavor hardly does the same, but Nancy offers excitement.

“Treachery” stands out for the use of striking imagery and that is easily attached to the direction of Muyiwa Aluko. This is also a memorable offering of the film but with all its intention it loses touch with sustaining its audience.

About the Author

Rejoice is a 22-year-old  aspiring Filmmaker and a big dreamer. She’s also a ‘Theatre and film’ arts graduate from the University of Jos, Nigeria.