When a beautiful, intelligent and successful spinster remains unmarried in her mid-30s, the alarm bells start ringing and she is faced with pressure from her immediate family, friends and society at large.
That is the story in the romcom, Isoken, the directorial debut of Jade Osiberu.
The lead role is played by the lovely Dakore Akande, a perhaps underrated Nollywood A-list actress who delivers a great performance. Dakore effortlessly portrays a character (Isoken Osayande) many Nigerian spinsters can relate to.
Isoken eventually has to choose between the two eligible bachelors from different backgrounds. This mirrors the sometimes difficult choices unmarried people have to make. It is a topic that would certainly captivate a young audience.
Credit should go to the producers for the wonderful choice of costume, Nigerian songs (Sir Victor Uwaifo’s ‘Guitar Boy’ and Sir Shina Peters’ multiple award-winning ‘Ace’ would always win), screenplay, acting and equipment (you don’t get to see underwater shots regularly in Nigerian movies).
Welshman Marc Rhys gives a laudable performance. He impresses with Nigerian slangs and dance.
Tina Mba, Funke Akindele, Damilola Adegbite, Lydia Forson and Patrick Doyle equally impress.
The only low point in terms of acting has to be Joseph Benjamin. He is just not natural in his role. The viewer would be forgiven to think he (Benjamin) was reading his script and not acting.
The movie also struggles with sound at the beginning. The post-production did not take care of that, particularly in the party scene.
One remarkable thing about the movie, however, is the fact that it is both comic and deeply thought-provoking.
The theme is an often overlooked everyday topic well told by Jade Osiberu.
Isoken may not be 5-star, but it is worth seeing especially by lovers of good romance stories.
