MOVIE REVIEW: “Shadow Chase” by Femi Adebile
Reviewed by Ajibare Abioye
Hey folks! You’re welcome to the review of Shadow Chase, conceived by Gladys Ehis Ogbe, written by Joshua Bamidele, directed by Adeoye Omoniyi and produced by Femi Adebile. It was YouTube-released on May 22, 2022, and tells the story of Dorathy, a vibrant worker for Jesus Christ, whose courtship has a big question mark behind it.
I believe in the supremacy, so to say, of Story; that is, the core element of any film is the story. You may not have the technology to do computer-generated imagery (CGI); you may not have the recent de-aging techniques; you may not even have adequate resources to realise your movie concept exactly the way you pictured it. The one thing however, that shouldn’t be faulty, the one thing that must stay strong in spite of them, is the story, and with regard to that, I must say that Shadow Chase does give us a solid one.
We follow Dora, played by Gloria Oyinloye, as she tries to navigate her way, desperately trying to cling to the world in her boyfriend, Kunle, played excellently by Tolu Adegbo, while attempting to hold on to her Christian values. As far as God is concerned though, you’re either for Him or against Him; you’re either serving Him or serving money; you’re either His child or the devil is your father. An impossible place to be in reality is the middle of the road where one can easily get run over. The temperature God can’t tolerate is “lukewarm degrees Celsius”, and He spits such out of His mouth. That is the struggle Dora experiences in Shadow Chase and we see how futile such a pursuit is.
Going forward, I would say that music is an aspect that needs to be greatly worked upon by Nigerian drama ministers and film producers. There are too many possibilities in the musical art form than to continue repeating an original soundtrack at the beginning of almost every scene. That’s a no-no for me any time of the day. Also, we need to learn how music (or the absence of it) can be used to aid our storytelling. For example, using the same kind of tune in both tense and comical scenes could be distasteful and does the audience’s enjoyment of the movie a disservice. So, the diversity of sound has to be explored. I pray that God will help all drama ministers to seek mastery in this area.
In conclusion, Shadow Chase is worth your watching and you’ll be left to ponder on some ironies of life and the importance of letting Jesus Christ be Lord over all, and not just over some.
The link to the movie
Till the next article, stay blessed!
