Director: Chris Eneng Eneaji
Producer: Chris Eneng Eneaji
Script: Lani Aidisa
Cast: Ijeoma Grace Agu, Belinda Effah, Daniel Illoyd, Ronnie Diko, Jude Chukwuka
Year: 2017
Death is not a fascinating thing to watch. Many of us pray for the ability to know when or how we are going to die. In ‘Happy’, cancer offers our lead character the opportunity to make peace with everybody she has wronged before death.
A young woman (Ijeoma Grace Agu) is suffering from cancer, and in a bid to sustain her treatment her mother goes around looking for money for her treatment. The young woman knows there is little time left and that there is nothing the hospital can do for her. So she calls her best friend (Belinda Effah ) to come on a final ride, that includes asking for forgiveness from people she has wronged, and also, documenting these last moments with photos. While her mother and the management at the hospital look for her, she goes apologizing to a friend she had a physical confrontation with, she also confronts her ex-boyfriend (Daniel Lloyd) who starts another relationship too soon. Everything she does is not for self-gain but for peace. She also reconciles her best friend with an ex in the bid to find peace for everyone around her.
Happy is a film with a heart. While many films with a cancer storyline focus on loss and its effects, “Happy” focuses on finding true fulfillment before death. We go through life developing problems with different people without taking the time to learn and experience the life of others and why they do the things they do. Happy requests for a difference, and reprimands that death should not be the only thing that inspires reconciliation. The ability to live and enjoy life knowing that you have peace with everyone else is worth it.
I enjoyed the mostly silent tone of the movie, and its exploration of Cancer and death. Chris Eneng does a good job of giving Belinda Effah and ijeoma Grace Agu something good to work with. They are compatible and lovable too.
The production quality of this movie is also worth commending.
‘Happy’ earns a 7/10
