A Tenant in Hell is a movie released from the stables of TRECOM Worldwide. The film was directed by David Kola-Okeowo while Kunle Adepoju was the Director of Photography (DOP).
Where do I start from? This movie was very much an enjoyable watching experience. It was fully loaded with a brilliant story concept, great actor performances, rich dialogue embodied in the native Yoruba language mixed with some English, a vivid illustration of life in the motor park and of spiritual warfare, and entertainment all through.
From the opening shot of the movie to the end, the camera work was creatively executed. I must say, this was a first class job done by Kunle Adepoju. I don’t think I’ve seen so much handheld camera movement in a Nigerian gospel movie as I witnessed in this one. The impressive thing is that this movement did not distract, but rather carried the atmosphere, mood and tone of the movie, thereby aiding the conveying of its message. I noticed that most scenes that had static shots were those that had Jesus at the centre of discussion or action. Others had a lot of movement which paints the picture of an unsteady ship, one that doesn’t have Jesus. The 360 degrees camera movement was used in a few scenes to good effect. The drone shots, especially at the beginning, were done with a touch of class.
The music was also spot on throughout. The main background tune was superb; it had the feel of the 80s/90s arcade games such as Mario. This was a similar instrument used in Disney’s Wreck it Ralph (2012) that was actually about the character of an arcade game. The tune sometimes cut abruptly to another tune, all just to indicate the busyness of the world of the motor park. These tunes were used along with a few other tracks, all inserted at the right places.
The acting sometimes felt so real that you’d forget it was a movie you were watching. The movie brought together different ministry professionals who did an outstanding job. Something I found amazing is the way the movie dips you gradually into the story you’re about to see. It starts with character actions along with the character names, and then displays their real names during which, pair after pair, you realize the movie is loaded with talents and experience in the drama ministry. It was a great pleasure seeing the president of EVOM World Network, Evangelist Shola Mike Agboola, along with Gbenga Ayoola, Sam Aliu, Lara Ayoola, Evangelist Wole Olaleye, Seyi Pedro-Adetola, Opeyemi Akintunde and a host of others featuring in this movie. Of course, when you have so many stars in your production, there is always that challenge of correct and proper screen time allocation such that it wouldn’t compromise the weight of the story.
Just take a look at Marvel’s Infinity War (2018) for example; you’d notice that little or no attention was given to the relationship between the Hulk and Natasha that had been portrayed in Age of Ultron (2015), due to the number of individual stories the film was bringing together. Here however, each of these characters was cast right and in the end, you could argue that the story uses the right amount of time for character development, and that there were two or three protagonists, without one infringing on the importance of the others.
What a performance by Sam Aliu! Wow! Gbenga Ayoola! Wonderful! Every character at the motor park delivered performances that were incredible. I only wish Opeyemi Akintunde was given more to do in the script, given what a great talent she is. Someone made me realize though that the part she played was exactly what her character was meant to do – rely on her man – and that she did perfectly throughout the film.
Special mentions should be given to Seun Oni’s Ijaya and Gab Oluniyi’s Danku; for me, these guys were not even acting at all. Their performances were so real that they felt unreal. Their language, diction, manner of speech, and coarseness of voice were done to perfection. I feel some performances here should win at movie award ceremonies next year.
The costuming and make up was on point. Two thumbs up to Abayomi Ojo and Funke Adepoju!
One strength of this movie was its dialogue. I am quite sure that a lot of research and understudying would have gone into this production to ensure that all actors eased into their characters. The dialogue was apt and the script brought out the best in everyone.
I like the work of the subtitler who at certain times, chose to give literal translations to the proverbs used in the movie, rather than proverbial meanings. This afforded those of us who did not know what the words meant some good laughs. Aside a few typographical errors, the subtitling was good.
The movie portrayed its motor park setting very well and skillfully, because, there were scenes where nothing too much was being done towards propelling the plot, but you’d hardly notice because the movie was just so much fun to be at. These same scenes just portrayed to us how non-directional lives without Jesus could be.
The movie is a revealer. It subtly lets us know the ideal without pushing it to our faces. It exposes the state of our hearts concerning soul winning, as well as towards God. There are singlehood and marriage lessons in here too. It opens our eyes to see that some places yet unreached with the Gospel are just around the corner of our neighborhoods. What a great movie this is!
To watch the movie, click below:
The video review for A Tenant in Hell will be out on my YouTube channel on Wednesday at the latest, by God’s grace. Click below to watch previous reviews, and please subscribe to be notified anytime there’s a new movie review.
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCSE0mdRRFg0BG66lIbFLFWQ
Next, we’ll be reviewing Overcomer (2019) from the Kendrick Brothers. Till then, stay blessed!
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