Written by Sphinx & Uche Ikejimba (also as director & executive producer), this three-part romance drama with sprinkles of comedy titled “Alex From Oil & Gas” as an African Magic Showcase Original, is currently streaming on YouTube under the channel name of Movie House.

With a little over 1hour 30minutes for each of the 3 parts, the story in this movie portrays the dynamics of families, the effect of long term domestic violence in homes, life in the workplace, friendship/bond among or between siblings and the overall struggles/vicissitudes of life.

Synopsis: (may include spoilers) 

Tamara (Scarlet Gomez) & Tonye (Detola Jones) are sisters. They are in their 30s with the former a wee bit older than the latter. They find themselves having to navigate life on their own terms as their parents have for the longest dealt with their own marital issues which made for a toxic environment.

While Tamara has got to a crossroads with her deädbeat & narcissistic husband Claude (played by Okey Uzoeshi) and is forced to make a drastic decision, their son a major factor for consideration, Tonye on the other hand appears to be unlucky with love till she manages to find a match on a dating app.

This would then metamorphose into a catalyst for a twist and turn as the sisters find themselves in a web that sees secrets, lies and a situation that threatens their bond.

How will the duo deal with their differences? Will Tamara be able to free herself from the shackles of her gaslighting husband? Will Tonye find love in her match? What would later become of their parents?

Well, why not grab your popcorn and/or favourite drink, munch and sip along as you follow events unfold in this romance dramedy.

My Take:
This movie is very entertaining. It is super relatable as one is effortlessly drawn into the world of almost all the characters as a result of an amazing performance from about 95% of the cast.

It’s hard to choose who my best act was in the film as the writer and director of the story bestowed an incredible balance of screen time & weight on the two lead actresses. Scarlet & Detola are simply a force to reckon with.

While Scarlet gave me a heartwarming experience of a struggling woman trying to survive abuse (oh how I felt like giving her a hug from my screen), Detola…Detola gave me enough of a Genevieve-effect, it felt like I was watching the legend herself!

Gosh! Will I ever be able to talk about Detola without mentioning the veteran actress? Naaaah! I don’t think so. Not when almost everything screams of her just by seeing Detola. The texture, tone & sound of her voice! Should we even talk about the bossiness in this film? That’s EXACTLY how Genevieve would have interpreted that role 

Loved seeing Okey Uzoeshi take on a mean role here. He played it believably well. The guy that played their cousin did awesome too. I love his camera presence.

Now, shall we talk about the two guys!!! OMG! It’s probably my first time seeing or noticing both of them in a film and I can’t resist their charm (filmwise though please don’t get it twisted). I’m completely sold. 

Obinna Okenwa who played Nnamdi…dude is cool with some delicious swag (but his hair sha) anyways, I can overlook that! I find the character of Nnamdi to be a walking RED FLAG on a GIGANTIC BILLBOARD! His mood swings and insecurities are not really ideal for a healthy relationship if you ask me.

Shamz Garuba as Ishaya…ah! Guy’s such a smooth talker and a sweet lover. He’d make a good actor for a psychopath role in a psychological thriller film cos you won’t see him coming and I’m pretty sure he’ll kïll it too! He gave me some African-American Hollywood vibes!

Eseosa who portrayed Zuri is just such a crazy girl. 

 She was all out from the get-go and got what she deserved! 

 Should we talk about the girls’ mother? That woman played that role to perfection! 

 Wait! Are there really negligent mothers like her in real life? 

 So clueless about their kids! Wow! 

The storyline was beautiful and execution was near seamless. However, as with nearly all movies and everything in life, this had its flaws or lapses giving rise to some questions viz:

1. The Duration: Not sure why the director decided to stretch this into three parts. For a TV programme, it works to favour their air-time. But for a YouTube movie, it could be a turnoff for impatient viewers especially because the entire story & plot could have been delivered in 1hour 50minutes or a little over that.

2. Picture Quality: Maybe it was my device and/or glitches from my WiFi connection but I find that the picture quality wasn’t as impressive. I guess this may have resulted during the process of file conversion or so.

3. Subtitling: There were some delays in the subtitles and sometimes too, mistakes in names. For instance *Tamara cries* meanwhile, the character in view is Tonye.

4. The Office Romance: So you mean to tell me that with an open-plan setting, those two could get involved in an audacious office romance for that long and no one caught them? And even the person who did and spoke up was made to look crazy? Please make it make sense! 

5. What exactly was Tamara’s job? Or did I miss it? If I did, then it wasn’t firmly established. As for her son, who was he staying with in the location mentioned? And then, the Cousins…didn’t they have a life of their own? 

 I would have loved to see some subplots about their own story. I mean the duration of the movie should have been able to accommodate this, right? 

6. On at least two occasions, some characters were made to seem invisible to others in a scene when clearly they weren’t. The most obvious one was really annoying (wouldn’t want to go into details). 

7. Suspense: There wasn’t sufficient suspense or intrigue built around the “Alex” character. Maybe intentional but I figured it out from the outset. Anyone could, to be honest. What later became of Claude? 

Nevertheless, I loved how this movie took an unpredictable approach as it gave a more realistic sequencing of events leading up to a relatable ending! But the kisses though! Please don’t watch this with kids cos there were some romantic exchange going on every now and again!

The girls’ mother is surely “a piece of work” 

 After all that pep talks, only to make that decision! 

 The lady that played Ishaya’s mum would need some brushing up in her acting. It was off-putting for me! 

Erm…maybe it’s just me but I would have loved to see Tamara’s supposed son too. C’omon, there was enough runtime for that, right? 

Overall, this was a beautiful piece and an enjoyable relaxing watch…got me smiling for the most parts. Super duper loved it! Kudos to the cast and crew for a job well done