With story written by Richie Mensah, Sika Osei (also starring as Doreen) & Tiah Alidu, screenplay by Portia Owusuaa & Pascal Aka and Directed by Pascal Aka, this psychological thriller titled “PAWN” is produced by Nana Agyeiwaa Adofo and Executively Produced by Richie Mensah, Baaba Amoaba & Adjetey Anang (also starring as Clifford Mensah).

Initially released to cinemas in Ghana on the 1st of November, 2024, this Ghallywood film is currently available for streaming on Prime Video with subscription.

SYNOPSIS: (MAY contain spoilers) 

Clifford Mensah (Adjetey Anang) is a dedicated police officer who sometimes adopts unconventional ways of extracting information from suspects.

When subsequently confronted with a difficult case of a serial kïller on the loose, Clifford has to prove his worth to his boss whilst grappling with Dissociative Personality Disorder. With the instability in his mental health, he is placed on therapy with Doreen (Sika Osei) as his therapist.

To find out how things play out, why not grab your popcorn and or favourite drink, munch, sip along as you follow events unfold in this gripping thriller with a runtime of 1hour 47minutes.

MY TAKE:
It is absolutely commendable to have a story of this nature especially in an era when more and more filmmakers in the industry would rather pay attention to the returns on their investments and not care much about putting in the effort at unique and profound storytelling that leave a long lasting impression on viewers.

This movie which explores the complexities in mental health illnesses with particular focus on multiple personality disorders (herein referred to as Dissociative Personality Disorder) as seen in the case of detective Clifford also offers a look into childhood traumas, impact from injuries as a result of physical abuses and how these play a crucial role in some instabilities in adulthood.

Although not very much indepth, the movie also highlights the effect of security information released to the public by the police and how social media users in recent times would easily turn them into a challenge as if it were a child’s play. This is seen in how the chess game got sold out in minutes in shops following a public announcement

Another very impressive aspect of this film is the stellar performance by Adjetey Anang who powerfully interpreted the character of Clifford (primarily) alongside that of his other imaginative & manipulative self – ‘Kross’ & ‘Klue’. The studio effects & editing used here equally made it easy to follow the story to know when there’s a switch in personality. That was clever.

While as mentioned earlier, the story is brilliant with a compelling delivery, the plot however is one laden with flaws.

Firstly, character development is such that will leave you wondering how important some of the characters are to the story. A case in point is the lady in Ben Teye’s office (portrayed by Prince David Osei). The build up of some characters too lacked depth.

Secondly, believability in some of the outcomes is also an issue. Clifford’s boss was putting up some bold & confident front but then at some other times delegates duties to a subordinate that she should obviously handle herself. Speaking of which, was the role of that guy an attempt at a comic relief? Well, it didn’t exactly do it for me to be honest.

Thirdly, how does a detective obstruct police investigations by putting a blindfold over a CCTV camera within a police building, assaults a suspect and not get sanctioned or queried for it? 

 Is it an African thing where instead of upholding the popular line of “a suspect is deemed innocent until proven guilty” the opposite holds true? 

Fourthly, the fact that I was able to guess to a 98% degree who the culprit was from the get-go and also saw the last plot twist coming from a mile away makes me worried. 

 Two things involved: it is either owing to the fact that I’ve seen way too many movies within this genre (which is my best by the way) OR the writers knowingly or inadvertently left clues enough to sense them. This then took away the WOW-FACTOR for me. Hey! Not to worry, you may be wowed!

Fifthly, flowing from the foregoing, how did no one especially Clifford himself not notice the name of the girl who was räped years ago and as a result allegedly took her own lïfe? That didn’t make sense at all. I mean, that was quite central to the entire case and he was undergoing therapy too. Did he not know the full name of his therapist all along? 

Furthermore, the explanation given in the end as to how the culprit was being used as a pawn in the game, THAT…that did not add up one bit. How do you control a person with such devices as the one explained here, taking advantage of their mental health problems?

Conclusively, movies like this, in addition to books like “The Silent Patient” by Alex Michaelides just makes me believe & come to a conclusion that some therapists are actually more dangerous and need more help than their patients.

This was an interesting, engaging, entertaining and educational experience. Loved it regardless of the loopholes. The infusion of the Ghanaian pidgin is also very applaudable. That made for pure originality in language use.

Though I sometimes struggled to understand what they’re on about, I however enjoyed the flow in the lingo. Some of the indigenous lines too were devoid of subtitling. An example was in the flashback for Akua (Zobi). Nevertheless, this was absolutely worth the watch.

Kudos to everyone involved in this project.