Director: Sobe Charles and Akin Tijani
Producer: Emem Isong Misodi
Script: Vivian Chiji
Cast: Nse Ikpe-Etim, Nancy Isime, Fredrick Leonard
Year: 2017
We meet Nicole (Nancy Isime) in jail, from the first scene, we know she is trouble and for the rest of “Surrogate” she causes unnecessary trouble. She is a regular character in Nollywood. Characters like this have hit the screen on different occasions, and Nicole is one more name to the pile.
Nicole and Amara (Nse Ikpe Etim) are sisters, while one is adopted, the other is not. We meet Amara, who is intelligent and an independent woman. She is married, and unfortunately, she has the wrong fibroid complications and has to go through a womb removal surgery to save her life. Like many other women, Amara wants kids, and since she has none yet, she is scared about the surgery. It happens anyway and as a result she suffers depression. Nicole pays Amara a visit, and advises on IVF. She offers to be a surrogate for her sister. Amara’s husband has his reservation on this, after all, Nicole has a record of abusing drugs. You know, events keep piling up, until Amara finds out that her sister and husband are having an affair, and the child she assumes was hers is not.
First of all, I am tired of stories that re-enforce the idea that women are slimy creatures. It is what is done with Nancy Isime’s character. Women like that exist but the execution matters, and this is poorly executed. Jealousy is a major catalyst here, It inspires Nicole to consider killing her sister, and if you visit the archive of old Nollywood films, you will find many stories with a similar plot. Such stories on poorly behaved women, scrambling for men that are not theirs is old and needs to be discarded.
Nse Ikpe Etim’s performance is reluctant here, it seems she understands that something is off, and so she does not bother on being impressive. Fredrick Leonard is one of the film’s good assets, unfortunately even that cannot save the film. If a film cannot offer entertainment, it should offer some enlightenment, this one offers none of this but a recycled plot we need to get rid of.
Surrogate earns 3/10 from Xplore
