FAR FROM HOME(Netflix Series)

FAR FROM HOME: STREAM IT OR SKIP IT?

Netflix has released the much anticipated Young Adult series “Far from Home”, the  5-episode series has been welcomed with mixed reactions, however, one thing there really can’t be much dispute about is the drama and entertainment brought to our screens.

“Far From Home” tells the story of Ishaya Bello (Mike Afolarin), a charismatic teenager and talented artist from a poor family whose dreams of becoming an internationally recognised artist suddenly appears within reach when he wins a prestigious scholarship to a most exclusive school in Nigeria, Wilmer Academy, however through fraudulent means.This school catapults him into the affluent world of Nigeria’s elite. Nevertheless,a huge secret threatens Ishaya’s newfound status and, ultimately, his family’s safety. The drama in this YA series is built on this; as we see Ishaya Bello running from one end to the other trying to evade his haunting past.

Okay, to the thick of it. While we are caught in the frenzy of an “Americanized” Nollywood storyline, the school setting with cheerleaders, a “soccer” team, and young adult drama common to teenagers and young adults; it’s almost impossible to ignore the choice of casting; okay before I go into that, were you confused about the particular school grade? Let me help you now by telling you that the school is supposed to be for Advanced Levels (A’Levels), which typically comes after Secondary School (O’Levels), so, if the seeming age discrepancies are your grouse, you can shrug that off and keep it moving, however, some of the cast used for this level of school just seem to be overaged and also with too much facial hairs, while we can try overlooking Mike Afolarin’s facial look, what was it with Olumide Oworu(Atlas) and all that beard? He did look way older than that role the movie was trying to portray, perhaps a trimming down of the beards would have helped fit in a bit. However, despite the seeming wrong choice of casting, Olumide Oworu did pull of his role with some great acting.

Elma Mbadiwe was also great as Carmen, the troubled daughter of the school’s owners, Mike Afolarin’s gemu eventually didn’t matter so much, as he pulled off the role of Ishaya Bello brilliantly. Bucci Franklin as always, was stellar as Government. Bolanle Ninalowo earned my applause, because while Rambo was an offshoot of the character he absolutely owned in Picture Perfect, ‘Jobe’, he was indeed a fearful crime lord. He murdered every scene, and did a clean up afterward. Emeka Nwagbaraocha, who plays Frank, may be familiar to some after his role in RattleSnake as the Techkid.

Natse Jemide, who plays Reggie, one of the rich students, he  incredibly killed that role, my goodness, he was so relaxed and comfortable in it, If they moved this kid from the show and threw him into some American movie, he’d not look out of place. He embodied the chill vibes you’d expect from the cool, rich kid. Excellente!

Overall, the casting wasn’t bad, new faces were introduced and I’m pretty hopeful the Nollywood space will be kind to them.

One other thing that couldn’t be easily ignored was continuity in storyline, For instance, Ishaya blackmailed Atlas with a N1M target unless the sex video will be revealed to Carmen, however the writer seems to ignore continuity in that part, as we didn’t get to the end of that matter, trust me, N1M was not an amount a desperate slum boy like Ishaya was going to easily forget about.

As with most Netflix productions, the cinematography, sound, lighting and overall production was very good. They did not spare usage of Nigerian music with the soundtracks, and I particularly liked the blending of Fave’s Baby with the dialogue in a scene. The series is set in Lagos, and while we’re made aware of the wealth of some of the students, the houses shown didn’t have repulsively extravagant decor. They looked classy enough, without being tacky.

I really liked that for the most part, the more established actors played a background role to the kids. The likes of RMD, Bimbo Akintola, Carolyn King, Linda Ejiofor-Suleiman and Adesua Etomi-Wellington played their role as Faculty very well, Funke Akindele and Paul Adams also tug some heartstrings as the parents of Ishaya Bello, Netflix’ best guy, Deyemi Okanlawon also brings the suave as the celebrated artist, Essien. Guest appearances by Chioma Chukwura, Ufuoma McDermott, Yemi Blaq, Femi Branch, FunnyBone, Ibrahim Suleiman, Erica Nlewedim, and Oge Okoye wrap everything up pretty well. Kudos to the make-up team, however, Deyemi Okanlawon’s white beard wasn’t convincing enough.

In conclusion, the last episode did look like the writer had a flight to catch. The rush was just so evident. Shoutout to Dami Elebe, the Headwriter and her team though, the vision was clear and almost nearly interpreted well. I believe there could have been some plot twists that could have saved the storyline from an abrupt end. Well, Netflix’s intention to push out a mini-series wasn’t hidden afterall. Though with the ending, we can tell there’s a 90% probability for a season 2 as Carmen seeks to reach Ishaya from Rehab and Ishaya becoming internationally recognized, not also forgetting Rambo being caged by the new bad girl Adufe who seems to have something new up her sleeve.

Well, I really enjoyed it, and would recommend it for a watch this festive season. It’s one of those series you can watch all over again without getting bored. So, from us at Realnollywood, we say STREAM IT!!!