Yahoo Plus Review: Directed by Ebuka Njoku, who has also written the screenplay, Netflix’s new Nigerian Thriller features Ken Erics, Somadina Adinma, Lorenzo Menakaya, Echelon Mbadiwe, Ifeoma Obinwa, and Keezyto. The runtime of the movie is around 1 hour 21 minutes. It has been produced by Ebuka Njoku & Lorenzo Menakaya.
Yahoo Plus tries to bite off more than it can chew and, in the process, fails to deliver. There are multiple points it aims to address, but it does so in an incomplete manner. While the objective is visible, the execution takes a hit, in ways both deliberate and otherwise, making the movie mediocre.
Yahoo Plus Review: Plot
Abacha and Ose are best friends whose dreams of working in Nollywood fail to take shape despite countless tries. So they turn to a new way to make money, Yahoo Plus, an internet scam apparently using juju (magic or the occult). As per the instructions of Mansa, a kingpin who operates from Hong Kong, whom Ose has been in touch with for 15 years, the two guys need to make two human sacrifices that will change their fates and make them rich.
What follows is how the two guys get hold of the two subjects required for the ritual and whether they are successful. They hire two female prostitutes, and that’s when things go haywire. One of the prostitutes turns out to be Abacha’s girlfriend Kamso. If he doesn’t carry out the ritual, Mansa will kill his family. What will the end result be is what Yahoo Plus is all about.
Yahoo Plus Review
The frustrations of two guys living in hardships and poverty and trying to figure out ways to earn money is a highlight, especially when you know that Nigeria is a third-world country with a wide range of issues of underdevelopment. But even if we disregard the issue, that poverty itself is enough to force people to turn to the illegal side of things, sometimes against their wishes, is what the movie shows. But while Ose has made peace with it, Abacha hasn’t. All that matters to Ose is money. This is not the case for Abacha.
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The movie does manage to showcase poverty in different ways, for which I would like to hand it to the writers. Be it in the conversations between Ose and Abacha or between Abacha and Kamso, the underlying need for money is evident. The way the different characters look for a way to make money is also strikingly different. Kamso is ready to sleep with a guy because she needs money that she can send to her boyfriend. Ose and Abacha want money to get rich.
So one can say that for Kamso, money is just a means to fulfil the dreams of the man she loves. But for the two guys, money is the target. This stark difference in characterization, while showcasing the mutual issue that they all face (poverty), is commendable. So in terms of characterization, Yahoo Plus does a good job.
Coming to the practical aspects, lights have apparently been used to stress the not-good nature of the plot. The tinge of red in the ambience may symbolise the blood that is involved in the lives of these boys. What could have been better is the cinematography that doesn’t really play a role in setting the mood of a scene. The camera remains in the same spot throughout the scene without any close-ups of any character. The expression of shock on Kamso’s face or that of guilt on Kabacha’s face were important but were left unattended. And with no effective camera, editing can only do so much.
As far as the acting is concerned, only Keezyto as Ose is convincing. Both Somadina Adinma as Abacha and Echelon Mbadiwe as Kamso fail to pull off their characters. In the scene where Abacha is apologising to Kamso, which is supposed to be an emotional scene, neither of the actors manages to bring out the emotions. One can say it is the acting that brings down the execution of the film, if not the budget, which was clearly an issue.
Yahoo Plus Review: Final thoughts
While the movie does address many crimes, like blood money and forced organ harvesting, the clear budget constraints keep it from executing them to the intended effect. And what adds to it is the bad acting that just doesn’t manage to convey the feelings of the characters beyond a certain casual degree. Overall, a good try but a lot of ground remained to be covered.
Yahoo Plus is now streaming on Netflix.
Did you like the movie? Do let us know in the comments below.
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First of all, you need to understand filmmaking and understand that “low budget” is not a genre in filmmaking. Every budget has the quality of film it can produce, it becomes a problem when the budget is now used to do more than it can handle. Secondly, the camera movement was the original idea of the filmmakers according to what i saw. Every scene was one take, one shot and that was intentional.