The delicate storytelling of the weekend is what the horror genre has been lacking.
The exciting narrative of The Weekend doesn't hold back on the curiosity from the minute the pair choose to visit Luc's hometown village. There his parents, Meki (Keppy Ekpeyong Bassey) and Omicha (Gloria Anomie-Young), wait for their arrival. Luc's dismay at his childhood recollections creates a thrilling environment that will have you wondering where his animosity originated. Eventually we learn, but the enjoyment comes from the run-up to the finale. We are hooked to the screen in astonishment by the very fact that the reality comes later.
Oriahi does a fantastic job bringing Nigerian culture into his filming and character interactions at the anniversary celebration. Here we also meet Luc's sister Kama (Meg Otanwa) and her violent lover Zeido (James Gardener). A natural interest develops as Suspense mounts for reasons I won't dare spoil. The story revolves on revealing their secrets and why they are acting as though the entire town lives in terror of them, not on seeing his in-laws. The genre-blending environment benefits much from Michael Ogunlade's eerie score, which maintains a constant sense of fear hiding in the shadows.
The Weekend Review: Gut-Churning Nigerian Horror Will Make You Think Twice About Meeting Your In-Laws
Until you meet their family, you never really know someone. Before walking into marriage, this is a vital step toward creating a lifetime, created bond. But what happens when the future in-laws carry a terrible secret? In his Nigerian Horror film, The Weekend, Director Daniel Emeke Oriahi explores the fallout from meeting a family-to- be. Oriahi's film has genre bending and intense tension capable of surprising and captivating its audience thanks to a team of creative writers comprising Egbemowicz Dimiyei Sammy, Vanessa Kanu, and Freddie O. Anyaegbunam Jr.
The plot revolves on freshly engaged and contented Nikiya (Uzoamaka Aniunoh) and Luc (Bucci Franklin). After her mother passed away, Nikiya left her orphaned young age and is yearning for a family. She looks to the family of her fiancé and sees that their engagement would be the ideal chance for contact. Luc is sadly estranged from his family, but they generally stay in touch by phone. His resistance to seeing them stems from a familial resentment he seems unable to release. But Nikiya is persuasive, and at last he agrees to bring her to his parents' anniversary house.
The Weekend At Last Shows The Story's Secrets In Third Act.
This kind of scenario makes it crucial to play its cards right and at the ideal times. Fortunately, in the third act aficionados of the genre will at last taste what the writing has been developing toward. The outcome is an explosive collision of violence and secrets breaking free. For Luc, his greatest dread becomes Nikiya's reality—that which he had hoped to escape by not going back to his village. When all is at last disclosed, his psyche spirals downhill. Up to now, all we have learned about this family comes tumbling down in gut-churning fashion.
The Weekend is the kind of suspenseful horror/thriller the genre needs more of; a cold script depending on character dynamics above jump scares. Oriahi overcome its financial constraints by depending on his screenwriters to create an interesting narrative about Family Secrets and deception, which was no simple task. Exceptional as Nikiya and Luc, Aniunoh and Franklin have great chemistry in times of love and terror. Oriahi's directing technique and Ogunlade's emotionally arresting tune will cause you to wonder if it's ever truly worth it to meet your in-laws given this horrific story of family secrets.
