Story & screenplay written by Mfon-Abasi Michael Inyang, this movie titled “THEN I FOUND YOU” is directed by Great Val-Edochie (also starring as Yusuf), produced by Gracified Pictures and Executively produced by Tomi Adeoye & Omoni Oboli. With a runtime of 1hour 42 minutes, the faith-based drama is currently available for streaming on the latter’s YouTube channel under same name.

SYNOPSIS: (MAY contain spoilers)

After a social media scandal arising from a leaked exclusives ruins her acting career, Deborah ‘Debbie’ Ifeanyi (Nadia Buari) is left shattered, broken, and too traumatised to hope again as she believes she has hit rock bottom and is beyond redemption. However, when she crosses paths a second time with Oluwatobiloba ‘Tobi’ Badore, (son of Pastor Ayetunde Badore) played by Michael Dappa, there might just be light at the end of the tunnel for Debbie after all! The question begging for answer, is Debbie willing to accept this?

MY TAKE:

Story/Plot:

While the story isn’t new as it readily brings to mind over a dozen other movies, the plot is however splashed with some ray of sunshine. The highlight being Michael Dappa’s performance as a preacher.

The story which centres on redemption, faith and second chances takes off on a hot and steamy note but eventually settled into cliches and ultimately was very predictable. Somehow the story relates in part to the story of Prophet Hosea & Gomer in the Bible (Hosea chapter 1).

Given the poster, viewers can easily make conclusions based on the lead actors and this turned out EXACTLY so. I honestly wished this wasn’t the case. The plot twist was good but I was hoping the story would not settle for a cliche ending but alas it! Oh it certainly did!

Those talks about going into YouTube movie production after Debbie started to get back on her feet felt natural too.

Casting/Performance:

Michael did a thing with his role as a Pastor (he probably has a calling). The scenes with him preaching on the altar in Church was smooth as silk; easy like Sunday morning.

Somehow, I have reasons to believe that the writer or director of this film or Michael himself may have drawn some inspiration from Pastor cum actor Jimmy Odukoya of the Fountain of Life Church (Lagos) who has also starred in a couple of Hollywood films and in Nollywood’s too. It was such a beautiful sight to behold.

A great proportion of the cast did awesome. Great Val-Edochie (as Yusuf) also kïlled his role. However, something seemed off with Desmond Bryce who played the role of Marcus (Debbie’s talent manager). He appeared to have overdone some bits in some scenes where he appeared to have talked rudely to Debbie. It didn’t make sense! That wasn’t professional nor acceptable especially for an actress who was bagging international deals or anyone else for that matter.

The casting of the younger version of Nadia Buari was quite apt. The same actress played same role in the movie by same Executive producer titled “WHAT REMAINS OF US” where she starred alongside Taye Arimoro. That story was written by same writer as this one.

Direction/Execution:

Although the Church scenes were somewhat excessive, overly repetitive and some dragging on for too long, they nonetheless felt real and natural so much so you’d forget you’re watching a film as it sometimes feel like a Sunday livestream or a prerecorded sermon. Direction was straightforward.

Crew/Technical Aspect:

Location & setting for the Church is same as the one used for the Executive Producer’s previous movie “And then Came Grace” I was able to spot that at first glance. Audio, sound, lighting and overall picture quality were good. Costume was great too. But makeup seems a bit unimpressive.

Observation/Questions:

1. “THE ACTRESS & THE ANOINTED” may have been another title to consider as this was mentioned in the film! And ofcourse Pastor Tobi had the anointing & THE ANOINTING (if you know what I mean). 🤪

2. Wait! Did they have to hold hands? I’m referring to the two leads. They were seen holding hands outside of the Church even when they weren’t an item yet! I think, some writers sometimes mix up faith-based films with romantic movies. And this is not me saying that believers don’t hold hands when they’re in love. Context and timings matter, please!

3. This was too predictable for comfort. There are at least two ways this movie could have wrapped up without the two leads ending up together. (Not gonna divulge except they pay for consultation…lol!) 🤪

4. The moment Pastor Tobi hit it off with Debbie, we didn’t see him preach again! Na so una dey do for here? 🫩 Did his anointing finish? Would have loved to see them as a couple in Church with him preaching. By this, the preaching scenes should have been spread evenly and not jam-packed.

5. I would have loved to see how the Church reacted to their Pastor marrying an actress who once had a leaked tape online.

6. At the end of the movie, was it the same Hollywood deal that required her losing at least 10kg? 🤔

7. The Church choir singing off key pissed me off but that felt real (I was praying they don’t sing along with the Pastor). There are some choirs like that to be honest!

8. Is it just me or does Nadia look stressed? Not just due to her role here as an actress who’s being dragged online but I’ve seen her look same way in a couple of other films.

9. The two lead actors were great in their individual roles but together, they had no on-screen chemistry. There was a distance; a gap between them. No offence!

Conclusion:

The movie was a somewhat good watch but could have been better with a more unpredictable ending. The repetition of the Church scenes was excessive and appeared more like for a lack of dialogues for the plot than it was of necessity. Interesting but not thoroughly entertaining; neither does this connect deeply for me as a faith-based film! It was all just dramatic in my opinion! Don’t get me wrong, as mentioned earlier, Michael Dappa did great interpreting that role as a preacher but there’s more to faith-based films than Church scenes.

Verdict: 4.8/10

Have you seen this? What did you think?