Ahead of expecting a sequel to this 2024 drama titled “A Night in July” from Omoni Oboli, the producer, I thought to put this out here as a refresher to those who had seen it at the time of its release as well as for those who haven’t. The question that would follow afterwards is whether a sequel is actually necessary or not.

Synopsis: (May contain spoilers)

Helen (Uche Montana) wakes up next to Charles (Eso Dike), a total stranger in the morning of her wedding. Alarmed, startled at the realisation they’re both at a loss how that happened. Before anyone could say JACK, Helen’s fiance walks in on them and boom, calls off the wedding.

Someone has some explaining to do, right? But who? Well, why not find out for yourself in this drama with a runtime of 1hour 28minutes.

MY TAKE:

FIRST IMPRESSION:

This movie took off with suspense. It progressed with intrigue that sends viewers on a guessing game as to what may have happened. There’s a twist I didn’t see coming. But giving the twist a deeper thought, it gave rise to further questions.

PERFORMANCE:

Acting from Uche & Eso is great as usual as they put up a fascinating performance. There are times I find myself smiling shyly like a school girl catching a glimpse of her crush from a distance smiling back at her…lol!

CREW CREDIT:

Costuming and makeup are good. Camera quality and audio are clear as day. While the story is good, the plot is not as much. Not sure why the end credit is cut short too giving us only the cast and a wee bit of the crew.

OBSERVATIONS/QUESTIONS:

1. Characters: this movie would have had more impact if it had more characters. The back and forth with the very few actors made it tiring despite the short duration.

2. How did Helen’s fiance get to know about the hotel room? Coincidence? Naaaah! Let’s just say a little bird told him. But from what we later know, it doesn’t add up cos Helen went to a different room. So how did her fiance know the exact room to look?

3. Inconsistencies: Few scenes in, after the fiasco, we see Helen return back to work. We’re given the impression she can fire some of the staff for giving her judgmental looks. This then gave off CEO vibes. Moreso, at some point too, she told Charles “I PAY THE RENT HERE” Now, later we’re made to understand she’s been served a query by HR demanding she goes on ‘mandatory leave!’ HR for a company we only saw her friend as the only staff! Yeah right!

4. She said she went for checkup after that night. Couldn’t the hospital have been able to ascertain a foreceful entry enough for her case?

5. Helen, in my opinion sued the wrong person. Or maybe she should have sued the two parties. Cos why will a hotel deny a person access to CCTV footages when a lot depended on it? Then how come Charles had access to it? Money right? But Helen wasn’t passed off as poor either!

6. There was zero chemistry between Helen and her supposed fiance. So that was some easy do-away. I couldn’t even connect with his character to begin with.

7. Wait a sec., did Helen not have parents? Who were the people invited for the wedding that was called off and we didn’t see any one reacting apart from Helen and her friend, Mel.

CONCLUSION:

Overall, the movie is interesting and entertaining to some extent but there are so many dots that do not connect. Good lines and a healthy vocabulary going nonetheless.

A tired premise of betrayal, a boring sequencing and a predictable ending given the actors involved, this offered little or next to nothing. Ended as the writer planned it.

In my opinion, there absolutely isn’t any need for a sequel. The planned one by the producer may turn out nice impressing us or may end up messing up the little we’re holding on to from this one. Well, we may never know! We’ll have to find out.