With story/screenplay written by Karyn Udeh, casting director as Uchenna Mbunabo, this film titled “BABY BLUES” is directed by Omoruyi Efosa Emmanuel, produced by Uchenna Mbunabo & Uche Montana (also starring as Nnenna) and Executively produced by Uche Montana. The movie is currently streaming on the latter’s YouTube channel with same name.

SYNOPSIS: (MAY contain spoilers) 

Nnenna (Uche Montana) & Lotana (Frederick Leonard) are expecting their first child. While Lotana is a taxi driver hustling to make ends meet for his family, Nnenna on the other hand is a cleaner as she does menial jobs working in a rich household.

When their baby makes an entry quite unexpectedly via a medical intervention that eats up the couple’s savings, Nnenna would then plunge into a whole new world much to the deep concern of everyone.

To find out how things turned out here, why not grab your popcorn and or favourite drink, munch, sip along as you follow events unfold in this family drama with a run time of 2hours 21minutes.

MY TAKE:
THIS…this is Nollywood as I remember it! No kissing, no smooching, no flashy cars nor unnecessarily fancy houses, yet, message passed crisp and clean.

 I was so confident with the direction that I was comfortable with my kids watching this with me. They enjoyed it and ofcourse asked questions that I could answer.

Although the duration is one which is long and consequently made the movie appear to have dragged, however, for how relatable the storyline is, I was willing to enjoy the flow. The plot and direction was great. The use of the Nigerian pidgin English won my heart. It wasn’t forced nor exaggerated.

Frederick Leonard & Uche Montana did a thing with this movie and I can’t forget it in a hurry. The role interpretation was superbly naturally seamless so much so that it didn’t really feel like they were acting. It felt so real. Loved the natural looks on Uche. Her hair is so fine and the way she speaks her pidgin, gosh, I can listen to it all day 

THIS is not just a movie! It is someone’s reality! The movie highlights Postpartum depression which is one mental health struggle a lot of women face after delivery. Sadly, these are often overlooked or downplayed especially in an African society where there’s little or no awareness about these issues and how they affect even the most learned of women.

See, having an understanding, selfless, hardworking and supportive husband is a big flex and blessing any woman could ever wish for. And please if you have one, DO NOT TAKE HIM FOR GRANTED 

 It is one thing to be dealing with some mental difficulties peri-natal or postnatal and also have a difficult, self-centred spouse to grapple with. That is actually catastrophic as a woman’s mental state could deteriorate ever so drastically sometimes even fatal! 

This movie had its hilarious moments but I particularly loved the message it conveys:

 While there sometimes may not be a tangibly remote cause or trigger to postpartum depression, having a good support system helps a lot. Kudos to all the good men/husbands out there as represented by Lotana (Frederick Leonard).

 Communication is always key in relationships. However, it is one thing to talk and yet another for a husband to listen and also help selflessly. A marriage where the man listens to his wife and tries to understand her is already built on a solid foundation.

 Patience: some men are very impatient with their wives and this is often unhelpful when the woman has some issues she’s dealing with. Lotana, though he expressed his own frustrations, he was nonetheless patient with Nnenna.

 As a woman, going through childbirth is no child’s play. Seek help or speak out when you feel you’re struggling. IT IS NOT A SIGN OF WEAKNESS, IT ONLY SHOWS YOU’RE HUMAN!

I can’t express enough how much I love this movie. The story is so refreshing and reassuring. It was realistic and relatable. The background soundtrack and end music was really good.

Editing was good too but it experienced some issues somewhere along the line as we could see baby Ngozi appearing calm but the recorded distressed-baby-crying tone still blasting away. That was some oversight. Would have quoted the time frame this happened but naaah! Not to worry! 

Nnenna’s mother in law represents the very loving ones that take their daughters in law as their own. Ma’am Cassandra Odita interpreted this really well. But my question is did Nnenna not have her own parents or a living parent? Did she not have a sibling(s)? Was there a mention of her being an orphan that I may have missed? Please, I genuinely want to know. This is because apart from Peace ‘mama Boma’ (portrayed by Pascaline Alex) as Nnenna’s friend, we never saw or heard of a relative of hers. Also, there wasn’t much going on to have justified the runtime as that could easily be a turnoff for many who can’t relate with the subject matter.

Be that as it may, this was enjoyable, educational, entertaining, relaxing, interesting and relatable to watch. Loved the natural makeup on Uche and the realistic setting. The boss/psychologist cum therapist equally did awesome. Kudos to all the cast and crew involved in this project.