Producer: Don Omope
Director: Don Omope
Screenplay: Jude Idada
Cast: Toyin Abraham, Segun Arinze, Gabriel Afolayan, Desmond Elliott, Rahama Sadau, Sambasa Nzeribe, Funlola Aofiyebi-Raimi, Hafiz ‘Saka’ Oyetoro, Frank Donga
Year: 2017
When you make a deal, you keep it, especially if it involves a god or a cult involving an acolyte of dwarf enforcers. In this case, a mother has to give up her daughter as a sacrificial lamb. Doesn’t sound or look easy at all!
Tatuma is the daughter who is created as a result of a covenant. We know her through a birth mark revealed on her chest to be a cult’s ‘uzeburu,’ which is a sacrificial lamb to be burnt at the stake on the event of her 21st birthday. Tatuma was born to atone for the sins of others. Accompanying her on the journey to the afterlife, is Kamani (Sambasa Nzeribe) her guide. In a similar case to “The God’s are not to Blame,” the child to be sacrificed is protected and lives on, thanks to Larayi (Toyin Abraham), who cannot bear giving Tatuma to Narimana (Segun Arinze)
Don Omope creates a fictionally fascinating world for his viewers with “Tatu.” The film is a showcase of the Director’s capability to create an epic, which looks familiar to the type of stories we grew to know Nollywood for. This time he collaborates with some of the most talented faces in Nollywood to take us on a journey, “Tatu” is as fiery as it is beautiful.
Jude Idada breathes life to the characters. Characters enjoy proper development, enough for us to root for Tatuma, and then Larayi. The development is also enough to trust that the strange Kamani has the capability of a protector. For Segun Arinze as Narimana, it is the type of role we have come to know him for, and here he does a capable job of being the antagonist.
Despite the misses in costuming and sometimes, the over dramatization and intention to make “Tatu” bigger than it is, It scores valid points for its characterization, and sustaining dialogue. ‘Tatu” is also visually impressive. If anything takes from the production, it is costuming, which is sometimes flamboyant, sometimes eerie and confusing.
“Tatu” is a testament of the possibility of difference in the Nigerian film industry and I totally enjoyed the filmmakers vision to create something as memorable as this, and offer it as a cinematic experience.
Tatu earns a 7/10 from Xplore
