Written by Abigail Timmann, the Nollywood rom-com confronts the unexpected conflict that often tests the depth of romantic love and friendships. It blends emotional depth with relatable themes. It questions whether or not love is enough when a devastating tragedy strikes.
The film follows Kate, who finds love with Melvin Obiora (Gideon Okeke). Despite the loss of her adoptive parents and inheritance, Kate seems to have it all, a promising career, devoted best friend and a man she deeply loves. Just as Kate and Melvin’s admirable love set sail for the next stage, a kitchen accident suddenly leaves Kate blind.
When the film opens, the exposition doesn’t wait. It unravels characters sharply to establish relationships. Everyone shares a close bond with each other. Melvin and Kate. Laila and Kate. Melvin and his brother.Think of a big happy family until tragedy strikes. The film tries to expose the often hardest part of love that people rarely talk about; conflict.
Minutes into the storyworld, the film’s predictable inciting incident is barely gripping. The expectation of promised ‘blindness’ conflict felt more intriguing in the logline than watching it. One minute Kate is cooking in the kitchen, the next, there’s a convenient accident and just like that, she’s completely blind. This is not to dispute the medical possibility of the accident. It just wasn’t convincing.
It failed to clearly communicate or justify how a kitchen accident metamorphosed into the level of cornea transplant (preferably from a recently deceased person). The doctor delivers the diagnosis obviously reading her lines rather than exhibiting experience in her yet viewers are told “the hospital is the best in the country.”
Rather than dwelling too much on the film’s flaws, this writer chooses to raise some questions the film left unanswered. When the tragedy kicked in, Melvin’s Eve and other characters kept referring to how Melvin had not been himself but why there was no investment for viewers to feel his pain. Everyone was saying it but his actions didn’t show it enough. What was the use of talking about Kate’s late adoptive parents and her lost inheritance without a layered exploration of it? What is the justification for Kate to go back to Melvin, a man who literally abandoned her in her predicament?
The scene where Melvin was trying to get closer to Kate, who is still clearly blind, revealed their differing perspectives on the situation. Kate thinks her blindness is enough to prevent her from moving on, but Melvin believes it’s not that significant and shouldn’t affect their relationship. This scene in the film reflected a crucial moment in most couples’ lives. It reiterated how conflict often reveals differences in their philosophical views beyond the infatuation of love.
Laila’s (Venita Akpofure) decision to ask Remi (Eso Dike) out was a profound moment in the film. Since time immemorial, women have been perceived to only be the receivers of love. Society demands them to wait when in love. It tells them that it is shameful to express love when a man hasn’t. This scene was a subtle reminder that love doesn’t need permission to be expressed. Also, expressing love has absolutely nothing to do with gender.
Another significant moment in the film is the introduction of Chuks (Daniel Etim Effiong) when Kate and Melvin’s relationship drifts. Chuks falls in love with her despite her blindness. Chuks, as a character, is symbolic to the film’s title. His love, patience and light-hearted spirit represented the spark in Kate’s darkness.
Okeke and Blossom Chukwujekwu’s brotherhood performance was one of the most memorable in A Spark in the Dark. It felt natural both in appearance and chemistry so much so that they could have passed for real brothers beyond the film. Laila’s performance played by Akpofure was another memorable one. Her confrontation with Kate for returning to Melvin delivered a gripping monologue on what love is. On a technical level, the film’s lighting was poor and not impressive enough to give the cinematic visuals expected. Music was as good as absent to drive the mood instead, the film relied more on dialogue.
Towards the end of A Spark in the Dark, the film goes back and forth with Kate’s indecision. With no proper justification, it transitions to Kate and Chuks’ wedding. What a resolution! If she was going to get married to him why did she have to go back to Melvin? A good excuse perhaps will be that such people exist. Girls who still love their ex despite how bad they were treated in the relationship.
Overall, this writer would have loved to see what could have happened if Kate hadn’t regained her sight. It is already obvious that viewers expected Kate to regain her sight but what if she didn’t? Would the film have had better satisfaction? Who knows? Maybe this angle would have saved its predictability and unsatisfying feeling.
Written by Abigail Timmann, the Nollywood rom-com confronts the unexpected conflict that often tests the depth of romantic love and friendships. It blends emotional depth with relatable themes. It questions whether or not love is enough when a devastating tragedy strikes. The film follows Kate, who finds love with Melvin Obiora (Gideon Okeke). Despite the loss of her adoptive parents and inheritance, Kate seems to have it all, a promising career, devoted best friend and a man she deeply loves. Just as Kate and Melvin’s admirable love set sail for the next stage, a kitchen accident suddenly leaves Kate blind. When the film opens, the exposition doesn't wait. It unravels characters sharply to establish relationships. Everyone shares a close bond with each other. Melvin and Kate. Laila and Kate. Melvin and his brother.Think of a big happy family until tragedy strikes. The film tries to expose the often hardest part of love that people rarely talk about; conflict. Minutes into the storyworld, the film’s predictable inciting incident is barely gripping. The expectation of promised ‘blindness’ conflict felt more intriguing in the logline than watching it. One minute Kate is cooking in the kitchen, the next, there's a convenient accident and just like that, she's completely blind. This is not to dispute the medical possibility of the accident. It just wasn't convincing. It failed to clearly communicate or justify how a kitchen accident metamorphosed into the level of cornea transplant (preferably from a recently deceased person). The doctor delivers the diagnosis obviously reading her lines rather than exhibiting experience in her yet viewers are told “the hospital is the best in the country.” Rather than dwelling too much on the film’s flaws, this writer chooses to raise some questions the film left unanswered. When the tragedy kicked in, Melvin’s Eve and other characters kept referring to how Melvin had not been himself but why there was no investment for viewers to feel his pain. Everyone was saying it but his actions didn't show it enough. What was the use of talking about Kate’s late adoptive parents and her lost inheritance without a layered exploration of it? What is the justification for Kate to go back to Melvin, a man who literally abandoned her in her predicament? The scene where Melvin was trying to get closer to Kate, who is still clearly blind, revealed their differing perspectives on the situation. Kate thinks her blindness is enough to prevent her from moving on, but Melvin believes it's not that significant and shouldn't affect their relationship. This scene in the film reflected a crucial moment in most couples’ lives. It reiterated how conflict often reveals differences in their philosophical views beyond the infatuation of love. Laila's (Venita Akpofure) decision to ask Remi (Eso Dike) out was a profound moment in the film. Since time immemorial, women have been perceived to only be the receivers of love. Society demands them to wait when in love. It tells them that it is shameful to express love when a man hasn't. This scene was a subtle reminder that love doesn't need permission to be expressed. Also, expressing love has absolutely nothing to do with gender. Another significant moment in the film is the introduction of Chuks (Daniel Etim Effiong) when Kate and Melvin's relationship drifts. Chuks falls in love with her despite her blindness. Chuks, as a character, is symbolic to the film’s title. His love, patience and light-hearted spirit represented the spark in Kate’s darkness. Okeke and Blossom Chukwujekwu’s brotherhood performance was one of the most memorable in A Spark in the Dark. It felt natural both in appearance and chemistry so much so that they could have passed for real brothers beyond the film. Laila’s performance played by Akpofure was another memorable one. Her confrontation with Kate for returning to Melvin delivered a gripping monologue on what love is. On a technical level, the film’s lighting was poor and not impressive enough to give the cinematic visuals expected. Music was as good as absent to drive the mood instead, the film relied more on dialogue. Towards the end of A Spark in the Dark, the film goes back and forth with Kate’s indecision. With no proper justification, it transitions to Kate and Chuks' wedding. What a resolution! If she was going to get married to him why did she have to go back to Melvin? A good excuse perhaps will be that such people exist. Girls who still love their ex despite how bad they were treated in the relationship. Overall, this writer would have loved to see what could have happened if Kate hadn't regained her sight. It is already obvious that viewers expected Kate to regain her sight but what if she didn’t? Would the film have had better satisfaction? Who knows? Maybe this angle would have saved its predictability and unsatisfying feeling.
Release Date: April 24
Runtime: 1 hour, 38 minutes.
Streaming Platform : Cinema
Director (s): Akay Mason
Cast (s): Tope Olowoniyan, Gideon Okeke, Blossom Chukwujekwu, Daniel Etim Effiong, Somto Eze, Eso Dike, and Venita Akpofure.
