Starring: Juliet Ibrahim, Brian Okwara, Andre Blaze Henshaw, Bassey Ekpo Bassey

Synopsis:

After some ups and downs a one-night stand elevates to an official relationship.

Trailer Courtesy of Otu Njama III

Review:

Lolade and Bassey (Juliet Ibrahim & Brian Okwara) had sex after meeting for the first time at a nightclub. The day after, Bassey was concerned about an unwanted pregnancy and insisted that Lolade take preventative measures. They met to purchase precautionary medicine and wound up spending time together but Bassey cut it short to pick up his girlfriend from the airport. 

Bassey’s relationship with his girlfriend had become stale and he constantly had thoughts of Lolade. He later broke up with his girlfriend only to find out that she cheated also. This pushed Bassey toward Lolade and the two found themselves getting to know each other. 

Let’s Talk. This is a movie about the obvious. It’s called “One Night Stand” but it ventured off into other subplots, which are fine, but somehow the primary story was weak. It had the makings of a love story but it didn’t quite feel like one. 

The movie opened up to Lolade and Bassey at a pharmacy. They slept together the night before and contraceptives was an afterthought. The movie showed a flashback of their sex scene, which was clumsy, cold, and uninteresting. The movie didn’t allow the audience to share in their initial attraction or see what transpired between them that led to their one night encounter. 

The time that Lolade and Bassey spent together was simply flat. There was no spark between them and the characters weren’t captivating enough so they conjured up very little enthusiasm. They actually seemed like friends instead of lovers. 

The biggest problem of the movie is that it missed the connotations of a one-night stand. A one-night stand is one time sex between strangers (normally) and that’s it! When the couple decides to spend time together it negates the unsaid terms of the relationship. Then there’s a plethora of feelings that come into play because for the most part people that engage in one-night stands don’t plan to see each other again. 

The fact that two people know each other sexually but not personally is just one of the many conflicts that arise when “one nighters” decide to extend the relationship. The topic of one night stands entails a goldmine of material to write about and this movie didn’t begin to scratch the surface. 

Furthermore, it was insignificant on many levels. From the scene where Lolade brought her one-night stand home to meet her father, and her audacity to check Bassey’s phone after knowing him for an entire twelve hours, are just two of the scenes that were a bit off the wall. 

Performances? Nothing to write home about. The actors would have looked better in a real story. 

The movie ends with notes that convey the outcome of the characters. I am not a fan of ending movies this way. As I’ve said many times before, filmmakers should show us not tell us. 

Needless to say this movie was a disappointment. Its exploration of the subject matter was feeble and half-baked. EJECT