MOVIE REVIEW: "Corked" produced by EVOM World Network

Reveiwed by Ajibare Abioye

You’re welcome to the review of the short movie Corked. It’s a 2020 film released from the stables of EVOM World Network, and was written by ‘Tomisin Agboola.

A new, nice tune was used in the opening credits where the name of the ministry is displayed. However, the animation of the ministry name remained the same. That’s fine but I think it would be more pleasant if that was also changed; not the concept, but I’m sure it can be redone using modern animation tools that would make it more in keeping with the technology available in this age.

The picture quality was really good and it was good camera handling by ‘Tomisin Agboola also, especially with the pans. Similarly, the lighting was on point. It was a family-studded movie featuring many of the Agboola family. The performances were good, though a few lines felt recited, and I particularly liked the smiley face of Feranmi Agboola who plays the role of Dare.

Something I have observed about movies from this ministry is the attention paid to detail. The subtitles are always carefully done and hardly register any grammatical or typographical errors. This punctiliousness is usually also found in the emphasis placed on correct diction and I think it makes EVOM movies stand out. It let you know the actors and actresses have gone through some form of linguistic drilling or the other. Their sentence constructions are generally well-spoken and articulated.

The movie talks about Mummy Dare who has recently lost her husband and so, doubts the love of God. She also has nightmares of the incident and engages the services of a psychotherapist played by Gbenga Adekeye who has featured in several EVOM movies such as Once Upon a Time (2002), O To Gee (2006) and more recently in Fire Extinguisher (2017). After Dare calls the doctor to express his concerns over his mother’s health, the doctor comes to the house where he and Mummy Dare had a vital discussion.

We see there that the natural human reaction to the loss of a loved one includes emotional pain, hurt, anger and doubt in God. Mummy Dare is upset at God and tries to handle the pain by herself. She continually says she’ll be fine and as good as it is to be optimistic, she eventually finds out that it’s better to hand everything we feel over to God, because then, we can be sure that our optimism is not misplaced but rather situated in the One who Himself is the Author of hope. We can’t do it ourselves; only God gives an eternal hope that transcends the borders of this world we live in. The Bible tells us how to deal with the death of a believer; as much as we should stand against pre-mature death, we’re told not to mourn as those without hope. This means that hope itself is something that surpasses human optimism; it’s something deeply rooted in the bowels of heaven.

This made me see one of the ways we have to renew our minds and adjust our perceptions of things. Another example I came across recently is when the disciples of Jesus came back rejoicing that they had done wonders in His name; Jesus was glad but was also quick to remind them that more celebration should be for the fact that their names were written in heaven – that’s most important. So, above all else, every child of God, or better still, every human should make sure that their names are written with the Father in heaven, and this is done through faith in Jesus Christ alone.

I’d say what I love most about this short film is the vivid visualization of the illustration of what it means to be corked or uncorked. We’re made to see that Jesus heals wounded and broken hearts. I think it also carries a lot of insight on how to deal with offences in relationships. Another special thing about Corked is that while films would mainly portray parents interceding for their children, this one is the other way round. We see then that raising godly children is not just for the benefit of those children but also for the parents; when one or both parents are down, godly children would stand in the gap for the parents.

It was a nice feel to the end when we see Mummy Dare ready to get back on track with her relationship with God to the utter delight of her children who have been praying for her all the while. The background tunes used were appropriate and the instrumental version of the hymn “No, Not One” played at the end credits was a befitting end to the core message of this short film.