ÒLÒTŪRÉ (The Journey)

ÒLÒTŪRÉ(The Journey): STORY RELEVANCE ECLIPSES A MOVIE THAT COULD HAVE BEEN BETTER

Òlòtūré(2019) left us all in suspense as Òlòtūré, a young ambitious journalist who was on a quest to uncover the horrors and vices of  human trafficking got entrapped in the investigative process as she became part of the victims who were to be trafficked offshores, the ending of the movie sure did let us know the story was far from over as the end left us with more questions and very few answers.

Òlòtūré:The Journey(2024) which was definitey expected to be a sequel and continuation of the story from where it stopped in 2019 left many in anticipation to know how the story ends;with many ready to get answers to previously unanswered questions. The writer was also going to bring a twist this time, unlike Òlòtūré(2019) which was a single movie, Òlòtūré:The Journey(2024) was going to be a Netflix mini series with three(3) episodes.

The story begins with Òlòtūré, also known as Ehi, who after surviving the harrowing experiences of her undercover journalism and several failed escape attempts, finds herself among other young girls disguised as missionaries on a bus crossing the volatile Nigerian border with fake passports en route Europe. This journey takes them from Nigeria to Niger Republic, where the girls are moved from one vehicle to another after a brief stop-by, the next vehicle is expected to take them to the border of Libya where they are to find a good entry into Europe, however as they journey through Niger Republic, they are attacked by gunmen of Ade, a rival kingpin to Tony (Daniel Etim), this attack causes a tragic accident along the way leaving all girs in the bus dead except Ehi and Peju(Beverly Osu) who come out after escaping the whiskers of death, they are then made to find their way journeying through a strange land where they meet new people in trying to find their way into Europe.

On the other side in Nigeria, tensions brew as Sir Alex, a popular politician who raped Ehi is under scrutiny as his atrocity comes out in limelight after the rape story is published, this makes Alero unpopular with him as she was the one who introduced Ehi to him. Tony is also not without his share of troubles as he becomes increasingy unpopular with the Italians who expect a particular number of girls, however, due to the brutal killing of Blessing; one of the girls caught with a contraband in the prequel, which made her sister escape the set after witnessIng the gruesome murder of her sister, the 15 girls communicated to the Italians were now 13 and they were just not having it with Tony. So, the movie revolves around troubles faced by the human trafficking kingpins in Nigeria and the obsatacles faced by the girls enroute Europe.

Will they get to Europe? Where does the tension among the kingpins in Nigeria lead to? What role did the new characters introduced into the movie play? You might just have to find out yourself.

Well, one beautiful thing about the story Òlòtūré:The Journey(2024) is contemporary relevance, it is very laudable to have a story on the brutal ills of Human trafficking told, you could literally feel the plight every human being unwillingly smuggled out of the country feels. However, focusing on other aspects of the movie will leave us asking some questions, we do not take anything away from the immense efforts put into this by both cast and crew, it was a good watch.

One of the few things we are left to wonder is how come only Ehi and Peju come out alive from that wrecked bus, not forgetting the fact both parties shared friendship before that accident, and also they did not sit beside each other on that trip, we understand the writer wants to build the storyline around the protagonist, however, there are more realistic ways to do that, the events around the accident scene made it look like a fairytale, only two friends come out alive in a fatal accident, yet they did not sit close to each other, there were better ways to eliminate the other cast than that.

Also, for the scene where Ehi was abducted in a whorehouse, how did she remember Ben’s phone number off hand under duress having just been with him a few days; well, it is said sometimes that the little things count, and that was just an obvious loophole.

However, it was a great watch, we were entertained with great acting, kudos to Sharon Ooja who literally ate her role, the ability to maintain the character aura from the prequel released 4 years ago and this was noteworthy. Some notable cast in this are: Beverly Osu, Daniel Etim Effiong, Omoni Oboli, Patrick Doyle, Stan Nze, Blossom Chukwujeku, Ikechukwu Onunaku, Bucci Franklin, Segun Arinze.

In addition, the use of certain slangs popular which is believed to be used amongst human sex traffickers was also enlightening.

Star Performer(s)- Sharon Ooja

Being a titular protagonist can be a huge task, and Sharon Ooja did deliver amidst that pressure, her facial expressions and body language in various scenes drove the message home. It was entertaining and relatable, She is our star performer on this one.

Can-do-better Performer(s)- Nil