“PROPHET SUDDENLY” REVIEW

“Prophet Suddenly” has graced our screens with something special. My first act in this review would be to (re)state my thoughts of it as a pacesetter, being the first Nigerian Christian movie to (fully) feature a character that plays his real-life persona – renowned man of God, Apostle Arome Osayi.

Interestingly for me, this is the second movie YouTube-released on May 28 with a 108-minute runtime (after “Project Steve”) that delivers value for every minute. It follows the story of Michael, a family man with a desire to be a minister of God, only that he’s going to do it at all costs. This motion picture is a good example of a character-driven story, where there’s no ambiguity over the protagonist’s quest. And there is so much that can be learnt from his life.

Somehow, I never got wind of Michael being a child of God in the first place, particularly due to the relative ease with which he cheated on his wife. On my second viewing however, I observed that the problem was with his foundation. At the root of him wanting to do ministry was the same get-rich-quick mentality ravaging our society today. He probably was never moved by the desire to be a blessing to God’s people, but rather, to be materially blessed by them. Subsequently, he adopted Jesus’ disciples’ thought pattern at the Feeding of the Five Thousand – work for a while in order to earn enough money to feed the people (Mark 6:37). So, he resorted to first feeding his family, when through God’s direction, he would have gotten the divine multiplication enabling him to feed thousands. My submission is human calculation can’t fulfil God’s purpose, and our prayer as youths should focus on us being usable, than on God using us (2 Timothy 2:21).

We’ve seen it a lot in Christian movies, and so, I believe this is the reality of some believers – that their confidant is not just an unbeliever, but someone with ungodly values. The baffling thing is how God’s children would then listen to counsel from such ‘friends’. Michael literarily goes against all of Psalm 1:1. Children of God need to seek wisdom from the Scriptures: one says that bad friends will ruin good habits (1 Corinthians 15:33), and another states that Jesus, who associated with ‘tax collectors and other sinners’, knew His place among them – a Doctor – and He wasn’t going to allow Himself become a patient or victim (Mark 2: 15 – 17).

It’s high time I talked about the acting in “Prophet Suddenly”; all actors nailed their parts. I could talk about Michael, CK, or the dynamic portrayal of their friendship, but permit me to pick out Laurel Olu-Egbor’s performance as Miokukuṣẹṣẹ. For anyone familiar with skits from The Winlos, she would not be a strange face, but from her revelation as a commander of familiar spirits, I completely became oblivious that I’d ever known her before. She has earned plaudits from many quarters and rightly so, because she did justice to her role. On another hand, Joy should have been a prominent figure in Michael’s life, but what I consider to be physical, emotional and spiritual slumber relegates her and empowers the devil to have a field day with her husband. May the Father deliver His sons from strange women in Jesus’ name.

All these good character development and acting were heightened for me by the brilliant cinematography and editing by Dwin Dik. I don’t know if he’s the one that shoots and edits The Winlos skits but right from their first feature in 2020 – “12:45”- the Bible lesson on the relationship between faithfulness in the small and big things has been concretised for me. The horror genre elements in the film (shots and sounds for jump scares), as well as their stylised zoom-ins were effectively used. I believe this is a lesson to upcoming filmmakers to be committed to the process of growth: If your dream is to produce full-length movies, shoot your shorts or skits with feature film individual style or signature first; make your schoolboy errors there. Don’t be so quick to want to do features: if you do well with the shorts, you’ll equally be able to execute your features or series.

Furthermore, there are creative shots and a montage that spice up “Prophet Suddenly”. Particularly with the titular song, the montage is one that I’ve watched again and again and thoroughly enjoyed, even though that song is probably about the carnal focus of the ‘man of God’. The church scene that immediately follows it was utterly realistic and I’m absolutely in love with its first few seconds. We call for Christian filmmakers to please give us more of these creative cinematic moments.

On a conclusive note, it’s quite saddening to see some of the atrocities being committed among people that belong to the light. These things should not be heard of among God’s chosen ones, but they are happening. The Bible tells us that there are many false prophets in the world; so, we need to be careful. We must desire the truth of the word of God because that is what brings faith to our hearts. The role of spiritual parenthood also cannot be overstated. Like Jesus said, it is expedient that we all check ourselves to ensure that the light we have is not in actuality, darkness. I pray that God’s purifying fire will burn away our desire for anything that is not of Him, but is in us, in Jesus’ name. Amen.

The link to the movie is https://youtu.be/QIoUmnSkOXE

Till the next review, stay blessed!

Film Credits
PROPHET SUDDENLY (May 28, 2023)
108 minutes
The Winlos Films

Cast
Ohis Muyiwa Ojeikere as Michael
Anwinli Ojeikere as Joy
Laurel Olu-Egbor as Miokukuṣẹṣẹ
Ola ‘TheRawPoet’Adene as CK
Apostle Arome Osayi as Himself


Crew
Story
Ohis Muyiwa Ojeikere
Screenplay
Ola ‘TheRawPoet’ Adene
Director of Photography
Dwin Dik
Sound Design
Ayo Stephen Erahon
Editor
Dwin Dik
Director
Ohis Muyiwa Ojeikere