Film Review – TANGO WITH ME

Joseph Benjamin and Genevieve Nnaji

By Nwamaka Agwuna

Nollywood brings us yet another critically acclaimed movie Tango with Me.

With the astute direction of Mahmood Ali-Balogun, comes this controversial but romantic drama about the unfortunate stigma of rape and how forgiveness, love and compassion can heal the wounds of a cut so deep.  

The story is depicted by Genevieve who plays Lola, a school teacher who’s happy and
in-love with Uzo played by Joseph; an up and rising employee within the oil industry.

Both their lives take a terrible twist of fate when

Lola is raped on their wedding night leaving her stripped of her happiness and her groom Uzo feeling helpless and unforgiving of the culprits.

Genevieve’s character Lola is left scarred by the rape and initially was unable to forget the ordeal thereby unintentionally creating a barrier between her and Uzo. This barrier resulted in the slow deterioration of their once happy relationship. To add salt to injury, Lola discovers down the line that she is several weeks pregnant and decides to keep the baby in defiance towards her husband and mother’s opinions standing on her Christian morals. Lola’s friends become increasingly suspicious noticing a change in their friend.  Too ashamed humiliated Lola decides to keep the ordeal to herself.

As the story unfolds you are carried through a series of emotional rollercoasters; from the numerous tear jerker moments for example when Lola came close to taking her own life with a hand full of pills and was stopped by Uzo, to the joy I experienced during the couple’s reunion towards the end of the movie when Uzo turns up during the delivery of the baby to support his wife.

The movie is set near the vibrant and revitalised town of Ikoyi in the city of Lagos, Nigeria and captures much of the city's modern and metropolitan infrastructure hardly portrayed in other Nollywood productions.

Both Genevieve’s and Joseph’s wardrobe contained an impressive array of African prints displaying the diversity of African fashion at its finest. The sound and image qualities far outshine most of the better films out there.

A must see movie with some unexpected twists displaying Genevieve and Joseph’s tremendous acting abilities.