Here Comes the Bride – If you love something, you take care of it!

With story by Emem Isong Misodi (also as Executive Producer), screenplay by Onyi Cindy Umeh, directed by Uche Alexmoore and produced by Imaobong Udoh, this film titled “Here Comes the Bride” is now streaming on YouTube under the channel name of Royal Arts TV.

This movie attempts to explore the pressures faced by social media influencers and how the need to stay relevant & influential often influences their decisions which more often than not boomerangs them.

Synopsis: (MAY include spoilers)

Kamara ‘Kammy’ (Bimbo Ademoye) is a social media influencer and has a huge following. She gets a devastating revelation on her big day and spontaneously had to cook up something to save her face.

Bello, on the other hand, is a surgeon who has just returned back to the country. Somehow, he crosses paths with Kammy and the rest of the movie sees troubled times leading to core decision making.

What decisions were made? How did these affect all the parties involved? Well, why not grab your popcorn

and favourite drink whilst you munch and sip along as you follow events unfold in this romance drama with a runtime of 1hour 34minutes.

My Take:
A clever bird whispered to my ear that this movie borrowed a leaf or got its inspiration from Jennifer Lopez’s & Owen Wilson’s “MARRY ME” feel-good romcom of 2022. And after watching this (and making some research), I couldn’t agree more.

Both movies share certain striking similarities from my findings (even though I haven’t seen the latter) albeit the highlight is the on-screen chemistry between the lead actors. Bimbo & Daniel, just like in Uduak Isong’s hit movie “Selina 1&2” of same 2022, yet again unarguably delivered a stellar performance as they showed off their acting dexterity & character compatibility.

Although I was sooooo expecting a bride walking down the aisle, looking breathtakingly stunning holding a bouquet of flowers, against a backdrop of the iconic theme song of weddings which echoes the title of this movie, I’d like to express my disappointment as THAT never happened!

How very dare they!!!

I’ll only forgive them on the basis that those kinds of weddings are a borrowed part into our African culture. Hence, adopting only the traditional way here is absolutely applaudable. However, my frustration is in the fact that the marriage ceremony itself did not portray as much as it was made to be perceived especially given the title.

While there was impeccable line delivery & good scripting, great picture quality, sound effects & makeup, costuming and props were however not as impressive.

Observations:
Firstly, this movie is one designed to end the way it did from the get-go! The moment we saw the two leads in two different relationships, one would automatically predict that the other spouses would be made to act undeservedly.

I had hoped this wouldn’t be the case. I wish they had made the other characters difficult to loathe. Conveniently, the movie was highly predictable and was lacking of some nerve-racking suspense. The only element of intrigue was made hazy and bleak.

Secondly, for a celebrity who wanted her audience and followers to be part of her most memorable day, the design set for the marriage ceremony wasn’t as fanciful.

Thirdly, I’ve got so many questions in my head to ask as the plot is questionable, unrealistic and downright ridiculous. To me, I feel like it was sïlly to make viewers believe that over 50k people were watching online via a livestream and yet there were no social media backlashes after all that friction.

Fourthly, for a Surgeon, Bello seemed to have a lot of free time in his hands. We’re made to initially believe that he relocated back to the country. We know about a charity. But did he set up his own practice or was he employed as a consultant in some other hospital? Was this mentioned or did I miss it?

Fifthly, it wasn’t really clear what Larry (Kammy’s fiance) stormed out to go do either. And then the reaction from his own supposed side of the family appeared to have come rather late as they just sat there moping for the most parts.

Furthermore, we also didn’t get much about Bello’s background apart from the disheartening backstory of his brother & parents. It was not until his Uncle’s cameo appearance saw a bit of the Hausa language that the name ‘Bello’ stuck.

See, what worked really well for this film was how good the characters were interpreted or portrayed. That P.A was sha a busy body!

Ah! Love her!

As mentioned, though a weak plot, the actors managed to pull a convincingly compelling & believable narrative. Thinking about it though, the premise still doesn’t make sense, if you ask me!

At the end of the day, nevertheless, the take-home message stands out: