“Suspicion” Review— An Ambitious, Chaotic Couple of The Supernatural and Action Thriller Genres With An Intriguing Twist

When films set out to defy storytelling convention, they run the risk of either being accepted or rejected. Only a few times is the attitude towards them of mixed feelings. An audience may not understand the grit and process that it takes to make a film but they will recognize a faulty Nollywood story just a few minutes into it. Between last year and now, we have seen a couple of cinema productions evolving from a crossbreeding of genres. Film projects from Anthill Studios have been particularly gutsy in this regard. We can talk, for instance, about Mikolo, which combines live animation with fantasy and family drama, attempting to appeal to a fan base of the old and young. As this review notes, the film immediately catches the attention because “there are not many children’s movies in the Nigerian canon.” We can also talk about The House of Secrets, in which the filmmaker blends psychological drama and the spy thriller over the aesthetic of black-and-white monochrome. Earlier this year, we had Casa De Novia, a somewhat weird fusion of comedy, drama and horror. And there’s Uche Jombo’s Onye Egwu, a marriage of comedy and sports drama. All these films are products of their filmmakers’ ambition.

Like the aforementioned films, Tosin Igho’s Suspicion shows ambition for its genre-bending efforts, bringing together the crime drama and supernatural thriller. It follows the story of Voke, played by Stan Nze, a young man with supernatural powers credited to his family background. He lives a normal life, with a romantic partner Chisom (Omowunmi Dada) and a buddy Rogba (Uzor Arukwe) whom he often renders financial and moral support. Soon, Rogba and his daughter Laide (Martin Mdot Adaeze) are mysteriously murdered while Chisom breaks up with Voke. Heartbroken, Voke sets out on a revenge-seeking mission that leads to the uncovering of dark secrets and discovery of betrayal by his longtime partner. Suspicion leads us into the sleazy, duplicitous circle of action, crime and metaphysics, spotlighting issues such as power tussle, money ritual, human sacrifices, treachery, spiritual redemption, and vengeance.

Narrated by the protagonist himself, the film opens with a prologue-like scene capturing the younger version of Voke. The child is cooked by his mother in a pot, signifying a ritual for spiritual fortification through which the boy becomes impervious to gunshots. This opening sets the tone for the supernatural thrills that evolve in the story, central to the actions of the protagonist as an adult. The depiction of the supernatural is tied to the strong, age-old belief of Nigerians and other Africans in juju and black magic. Whereas juju generally suggests a traditional religious system that involves the incorporation of objects such as charms, amulets and spells, either for benevolent or malevolent ends; black magic, often called witchcraft, specifically refers to the maleficent manipulation of magical powers. In the film, characters like Chisom and her cohorts are involved in diabolical ritual acts. Voke, on the other hand, employs his powers for investigative purposes, solving contemporary problems of theft and murders, while he gets financially rewarded for his services.

In Suspicion, there are a couple of specific supernatural manifestations. This includes foresight, teleportation, magical healing, and spiritual bulletproof, all of which are revealed as dangerously transactional. The disappearing juju helps Voke to teleport to his destination and save Chisom from being killed by the masked man; but this comes with the risk of a reduced life span. Chisom indulges in human sacrifice to save her own life. The spirit of Lolu seeks redemption and liberation through a procedure that requires the killing of all her murderers and retrieval of a vital organ. There are also a few times in the film when the lines between juju-enabled good and evil are blurred, such as when the masked Rogba, on a mission to redeem the spirit of Lolu, ends up killing several policemen and making a ridiculous spectacle of the state institution.

Tosin Igho’s representation of the occult in Suspicion is reminiscent of the 90s and early 2000s era of Nollywood blood money film productions, for instance Living In Bondage, Karsishika, Billionaires Club. It also reminds us of New Nollywood productions like Living In Bondage: Breaking Free, The Blood Covenant and KM 17 that are predicated on the theme of the occult. However, unlike the teething years of the Nigerian film industry, Suspicion reimagines black magic in Nollywood canon, portraying its gore with less repulsive lenses, and normalizing it in a corporate and eclectic world. The film showcases a fluid, hybrid universe at the nucleus of which is the human endowment to negotiate corporeal and metaphysical existences—but the filmmaker achieves this in a way that simulates a remotely Hollywood-esque combo of action and sci-fi.

Many Nollywood films are known for their recycled and predictable storylines and character developments. In the filmography of Odunlade Adekola, for instance, the trio of Alani Pamolekun, Mufu Oloosha Oko and Lakatabu, though unconnected to one another, have similar plot patterns involving a notorious, diabolically empowered hero with a flaw that brings about his downfall. Minutes into each film, and you can already guess where the story is heading. This pitfall of predictability is what Tosin Igho tries to circumvent in Suspicion. It is true the supernatural motif smells of nostalgia, but it also has a fresh angle with the inclusion of action and an intriguing twist that unravels the alter egos of two crucial characters, Chisom and Rogba.

However, what soils Suspicion is a pacing problem with poor character development. The narrative moves at a pace so energetic that characters like Chisom, Tony (Kalu Ikeagwu), and Leke Thompson (Boma Akpore) are often left behind. These characters are indispensable to the plot, yet only peripherals of their lives and personalities are provided. One cannot help but question the veracity of the supernatural in the film especially as it is accorded mainstream support. It is also not particularly clear what Voke’s occupation is and whether or not he has the backing of state authorities in his detective-like adventures. The most glaring deficiency of the film is its final act in which details of Rogba’s relationship with Onajite, Rogba’s revenge quest and Chisom’s confession are rushed. It feels like the filmmaker suddenly realized he is running out of time and shoves the rest of the falling action down our throats.

Narratives like Suspicion are bold for their efforts to reimagine Nigerian contemporary realities against the backdrop of cultural aesthetics and beliefs, elevating the country’s traditional roots to the status of an imaginably ultra-modern Afrocentric reality. While Tosin Igho’s film is far from a perfect story, with its questionable narrative strands and what often feels like an unwieldy fusion of fantasy and reality, it adds to existing conversations around African science and Afrofuturism—contributing to the long-term repurposing of African experiences.