Director: Reginald Ebere
Producer: Kingsley Okereke
Screenplay: Chisom Juliet Okereke
Cast: Ujams C’Briel, Ruth Kadiri, Ikenna Okereke
Year: 2017
I have watched films from Reginald Ebere and Kingsley Okereke, including “No Bride for Dad,” reviewed Here, they make pretty interesting films. They also bank on a really engaging child actor, Ikenna Okereke. The problem is, all of these films exceed two hours, when it is possible to tell same story in an hour .
“The Unwanted” is a film on HIV Stereotypes and an evil step mum. Ruth Kadiri is Betty, and has been married to Emeka (Ujams C’Briel) for five years. They have not been blessed with children, but when Emeka’s ex-girlfriend dies from HIV, he learns that he has a 10 year old son, who he has to take in. The problem is, his wife wants nothing to do with the child, his insistence to bring the child to the house leads to problems. She maltreats the young child so bad and throws tough words about his mother and HIV to the young boy.
Eventually, Betty is diagnosed with HIV and her hate for the child heightens. She does not share her status with her husband, instead, she blames the young boy for infecting her. We watch scenes of similar situations of maltreatment being repeated until it reaches a climax.
“The Unwanted” uses a young child to pass knowledge on the stigma of HIV, and like we said of him, in the review for “No Bride for Dad,” Ikenna Okereke, is one young actor to watch. Ujams C’Briel and Ruth Kadiri are also excellently paired here and those are the highs of the story.
On the flip side, there is the use of an unnecessary accent from Muna’s sister, and the repetition of scenes to prove the wickedness of one woman. “The Unwanted” goes on for 2 hours 25 minutes and it takes patience to sit through the whole film.
Good thing we see good acting; bad thing is too long does not always win. Xplore rates “The Unwanted” with 4/10
