FAMILY GBESE

UZOR ARUKWE STARS IN INKBLOT’S NEW PRODUCTION “FAMILY GBESE”

A tale of loyalty, sacrifice and moral dilemmas, Inkblot Productions has expanded its 2024 film lineup with Family Gbese, a new ensemble comedy-drama exploring family, loyalty, and ambition. Led by Uzor Arukwe, the film centers on Nnamdi Nwagba, a successful investment banker whose life is upended when he’s forced to choose between his career and family loyalty. Faced with his older brother Gozie’s mounting debt to a local gangster, Nnamdi finds himself pressured into money laundering to protect his family.

The plot of Family Gbese unfurls through a tightly woven series of events that force Nnamdi into increasingly precarious situations, as he grapples with his brother’s mounting debts and his own aspirations for a secure future. The stakes are present and formulatic, with Nnamdi navigating dangerous confrontations, such as the scene where Folarin (Ekun) and his gang abduct Chioma, pushing him further into a web of familial and criminal tensions.

While the filmmakers skillfully juxtapose Nnamdi’s sophisticated corporate life with the gritty underworld of his past plus Gozie’s debts, certain predictable beats in the story, such as Nnamdi’s inevitable entanglement in money laundering and the romantic complications with Ayomikun, slightly diminish the tension.

These developments, though dramatically charged, follow a formulaic trajectory familiar to ensemble dramas, which might lead viewers to anticipate the outcomes before they unfold. However, the plot’s cohesion and present stakes surrounding Nnamdi’s choices keep the audience invested, even as the narrative navigates a web of relationships and consequences.

Written by Chinaza Onuzo and Directed by Michelle Bello, the movie stars some of Nollywood’s finest like Uzor Arukwe, Muyiwa Ademola, Lilian Afegbai, Mike Ezuronye, Faithia Balogun and a few others.

The movie was released to cinemas on November 8, 2024.

Star Performer(s)- Uzor Arukwe

From All of Us at Real Nollywood, we rate the movie a 75%