MOVIE REVIEW: Abbatoir Episode 5 produced by Mount Zion

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By Ajibare Abioye

You’re welcome to the review of Abattoir Episode 5. It was a loaded episode. For me, the hero of this episode is Baba Gbenro. His wife, played by Nike Owah, is given a voice here, having been more or less silent so far. Her role as a helpmeet is put on display again; she encourages her husband when he’s disturbed and takes the bull by the horns by leading prayers, talking to God about what is bothering them. The music, as always, is on point. There was a new tune used in the first scene of this episode; it was just appropriate.

Holding on to the manipulative information he was given by Gbade, Martins is disillusioned in Baba Gbenro and everything he represents, particularly God. I think if only Martins had given the matter a little more thought, he’d have discovered that there was something wrong about his handling of it. Was he being wise about it? The Scriptures say that God’s wisdom is first of all pure, then peaceable, but Martins’ approach is questionable. He shuts out the authority figures in his life – his pastor and Baba Gbenro – trying to burn his bridges behind him, not minding whose ox is gored. For me, his disrespectful attitude towards Baba Gbenro is inexcusable. Everyone deserves their respect; even Mr Adegbola listens to Dele respectfully. Speaking of which, all the scenes between Dele and his Dad were very good.

A highlight of this episode was the performance of Tolu Adegboyega as Flora. I learnt that she’s the one who played Funmilola Obembe in “The Train”; that’s awesome. She did very well here and was an outlet of humour, particularly because of her hilarious mantra: “We give maximum satisfaction and enjoyment.” She displays something remarkable in the scene where Gbade takes her to Martins’ workplace. She, a “daughter of Jezebel” knows her worth and Gbade eventually bows to her mantra and apologizes. We, sons and daughters of the Most High God, must know our value in Jesus and live as such.

We still have to talk about Martins because he does a lot of things and a lot happens to him too. He blatantly states he’s lost faith in God; he is mean and tells the students to go to hell. That’s what happens when we don’t deal with past pains or bitterness; hurting people hurt other people when they don’t allow themselves to be healed of the hurt.

The movie embarks on quite a tough task of showing us how far Martins has declined. It looked as though everything happened in a day but it maybe happens in a few days. So, it was not really clear or at least, the portrayal of the timeline wasn’t the smoothest.

Now, Dele is the only one who seemed to be getting through to Martins. I like the way this episode shows that they’ve had an existing relationship. Dele speaks to Martins as he would his father and respectfully asks a vital question: If you’re not standing, then, what are you built on? I think that’s a question we’ll all have to ask at one point in our lives or the other – the question of our foundations. Did we fully accept the message that Jesus saves when we believed? Have we actually received God’s love or it is only the fear of hell? Was our salvation genuine or we only did it because it was fashionable? Did we really surrender all? For Martins, he still held on to his hatred for his father rather than releasing it to Jesus to be healed and see just how much damage it’s causing. Imagine, the table was set, the harvest was ripe, but Martins didn’t show up because he believed a misrepresentation of the truth that Gbade was the one who orchestrated every single thing that had happened to him, including his salvation. He went around with a chip on his shoulder and that burden of resentment continued to be his to bear. His negative emotions directed the ship of his life and that’s why like I said last week, we mustn’t allow our emotions to rule us, especially the negative ones. He missed out on what God had been building through him in that school. In retrospect, I think these things test what level we are because God prepares us for the heights He’s taking for us. I believe there’s still hope for Martins but take a look at how he handles the little God committed to his hands! Imagine if he had been invited for an international programme or something and he decided not to show up for some reason; that would have been a scandal. So, we have to be faithful with the “little” God has given us before He gives us greater tasks.

I observed a bit of the spiritual battles that go on in this episode. Just when Dele seemed to be getting through to Martins; just as Dele had asked Martins a question he would struggle to give an answer to, Flora walks in and it’s clear that Martins sees her coming as a way to escape the light of Christ that Dele was beaming on him. The devil created a false door of escape, an escape from the truth that would save him; I wondered to myself how many times we take such fake opportunities of escape when it’s actually the devil trying to make us deviate from God’s plans for our lives.

Martins then becomes a motivational speaker of some kind. The children had been coming to listen to God through him, but once he disconnects himself from that God, he becomes an encourager with no real power to back up his words.

One thing I love about gospel movies is that we tend to see ourselves and others in these characters and the expectation is that we’ll learn from them and get better, growing in every way more and more like Christ.

The last scene was the climax of Episode 5. Just when it seems Flora has cornered Martins, Baba Gbenro shows up; nonetheless, with evidence staring him in the face, Martins still doesn’t know what God has just saved him from. How many times does God save us from dangers that we don’t even see? How many times does He create a way of escape that we sometimes don’t take?

And then Martins said, “I hate you” but Baba Gbenro said, “I love you”. Every time I think about it, I just end up asking: “But Martins, why?” In the season finale, we’ll see what happens next.

Till the next article, stay blessed!

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