Director: Don Single Ndubisi
Cast: Mercy Johnson-Okojie, Shally White, Rabaganda Grace, Kingsley Elenwome, Esther Emmanuel
Where to watch: YouTube
If you have ever inflated a skill in your CV- and you feel guilty, you may want to cut yourself some slack because it can never be as bad as what happened in The Competition.
In this YouTube offering by the renowned Mercy Johnson, two characters, Amanda(Mercy Johnson) and Sabastine(Shallywhite), reluctantly partnered in a “high-stakes competition”. Amanda(Mercy Johnson), hopeful for success, faces constant frustration as Sabastine’s poor eyesight leads to task sabotage.
Some chuckles and cringe jokes later( She laid it on too thick with the “you don see albino wey be police before”?)
They eventually worked their differences out and made second place in the competition.
Beyond conveying a social message against ostracising albinos, The Competition primarily excels in the art of making a mountain out of molehills.
The storyline is so inflated and unrealistic but the crew seem to be in a mission to shove the story down our throats with shallow flashbacks and convince us that the the Sabastine who read the notification that he got into the competition can’t tell when a whole human being us in front of him.
Even the competition it’s named after rewards first-place winners with five million naira just for flipping bottles and popping balloons. The tasks seem so weak that it’s evident they were conjured up hastily for the film.
Unfortunately yet is the lead male character’s lacklustre performance also dampens Mercy Johnson’s vibrant energy.
Mercy Johnson has to carry most of the scenes and you can’t help but wish that the legendary Mercy Johnson will come back soon.
Whatever draws you to the flick- whether social media or a chance scroll on YouTube, know that all you’ll have from watching The Competition is a rising and falling enthusiasm and a mastery of inflating anything.
The Competition a modest 3/10 at Xplore Nollywood.
PS: No part of this review is intended to trivialise the struggles that come with albinism. If anything, it is to point out how underrepresented people with albinism were in this movie. I apologise if any part of this piece comes off that way. 😘
