“Beyond I Do” is a 2020 production from Ogongo TV (which is a YouTube channel created last year) that has a lot of Christian content on it, especially movies. The story was drafted by Adekunle Adeyemi Adepeter, written by Seyi Pedro-Adetola and directed by Adeoye Omoniyi, the founder of Ogongo TV.
The 66-minute movie begins with a really nice intro that was eventually different in tone to the film itself. It tells the story of a couple, Jide and Sharon, whose marriage is going through a storm as seen in Jide’s hateful attitude towards Sharon for no apparent reason. Before long, “Beyond I Do” creates a conflict that is shrouded in mystery because the cause of Jide’s hostility towards his wife is unknown.
This is a family movie that both singles and the married would learn from. Jide refuses to open up to his wife despite the fact that something is literally eating him up inside. He mirrors what a lot of husbands and indeed, people in relationships do – they don’t open up to their spouses or loved ones if they’ve been offended by them; they’d rather confide in someone else. This then leads to a large gap in communication which causes them to unwittingly leave themselves or their partners open to misbehaviour and emotional affairs that later on become extra-marital affairs.
Sharon, played by Seyi Pedro-Adetola, is a virtuous woman who does all she can to save her marriage, even though her husband continues to be unresponsive. In this age of ours, many would advise such a woman to leave the marriage or just focus on her kids. Sharon though continues to love her husband deeply. Unfortunately, the same cannot be said of the man.
Jide, played by Adeoye Omoniyi, fails when his supposed love for his wife is tested. In fact, for a reason he only knows at first, he wants to opt for a divorce and this is quite shocking to say the least. He acts like a child whose toy is broken and so, he loses all interest in it. His ‘immaturity’ leaves him open to the devil’s attacks and like his friend points out, unforgiveness keeps our lives, our health and our eternal life at risk. Something that caught my attention about Jide is that even though he has a pastoral covering over himself, he rebels and in the long run, I realized that we do whatever we want to do. It’s not just enough to say that you have a pastor; you have to be humble enough to listen to them and trust God in their lives to give you the right counsel and instructions.
Eventually, the bone of contention is revealed and it’s really heart-wrenching. The background humming sound used in that scene does a lot to add to its tension. From there, the progress of the story is ramped up and previously unknown events begin are brought to light. The pastor’s wife, played by Toyin Festus-Hunvenu, hadn’t done much in the film other than to comfort Sharon but she spoke up when her husband quoted Romans 8:28 to assure himself that God was in control, and that led to an utterance that holds a lot of revelation for families: Each time a storm rages in a family, the purpose of the storm is to break the home down, so no home should stand on their wisdom in the midst of a storm; God’s grace must be given its place. That blessed me so much. We mightn’t understand how God’s working it out but we will always have reasons to thank God.
“Beyond I Do” also makes us see that prayers reveal the true situation of things. The things we don’t know are probably more than what we know; so, we cannot afford to rest on our understanding. The turn of events in this film could only have been revealed by God’s power; the secrets of darkness are eventually exposed. We see that no weapon fashioned against us prospers. In the scene when we see the evil that her boss meant for her, thank God Sharon was sensitive. That scene makes me wonder what a Christian should do when, against all logic, God tells you not to do something, and the situation is becoming embarrassing. When she eventually sits, we wonder what the consequences would be. I kind of like that the film leaves us to guess whether the charm works or not, because in either case, the child of God comes out victorious.
The movie also shows us how deliberate people can be in their relationships with us. If for good, they’ll go all out to give us pleasant surprises. If for evil, they’ll hide under the cover of darkness to destroy our lives. So, there’s a serious need for us to be sensitive in our relationships.
There seems to be a pattern of creating gaps in the movie, and it works to an extent for me. The first few scenes for example, don’t appear sequential. Later, we notice that the movie jumps around its timeline a bit, shifting from the past to the present with no obviousness. That the sequence was still understandable after all this gives credence to the arrangement of the plot. Even at the conclusion of the movie, there is a loose end, and it is fine left that way, for me.
I feel though that some of those loose ends might have been better addressed. For example, was there any consequence of the papers that were stolen? Also, I think the theme song was inserted one time too many between scenes especially because it contained the title of the film and probably a bit of its message as well.
Jide eventually decides to love his wife, no matter what. The marriage was probably just a thing of emotions for him at first but he later sees that love is a choice, and it requires commitment, and this is something I think everyone needs to know and remember in their relationships. Sharon has been deeply hurt by her husband’s words and actions and at the end, she also has a choice to make because God can heal her wounds, but only if she lets Him do that.
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