The Independence day gift that was “Swallow”
by Chidera Nwume
Sefi Atta’s book is brought to life in this 128-minute Kunle Afolayan production about the extent to which poverty pushes people and the measures one is willing to take to escape it. Tolani (Eniola Akinbo), our mild-mannered protagonist lives and works in 80s Lagos with her fiery roommate and friend, Rose (Ijeoma Grace Agu).
They struggle to get by with pride, working in a bank with systems that only work in favour of their bosses who in turn, do not respect them as single women and often subject them to harassment that they cannot report. This leads to Rose’s ungraceful exit from the bank and, in her quest to drag herself from the cycle of poverty (and make the money for her part of the rent), leads her to be lured by the extravagance that OC’s (Kelvin Ikeduba) life provides. However, this comes at a hefty price- becoming one of his drug mules.
There should be applause for the set and costume design because watching Swallow immediately immerses you in Lagos of the 80s. The clothes, cars, face me I face you houses, events; like people huddling together to watch the World Cup, cinematography, it appears that time was taken to ensure that every minute detail changes your calendar year to 1985 (even the hideous wigs)
Keeping true to the ways of 1985, we are presented a story about drug smuggling through the titular act of swallowing bags of drugs to travel with and defecate upon arrival for a worthy sum. This, of course, comes with heavy consequences that we are not introduced to till we are close to the end of the film. Before then, the film skirts around other issues like poverty, the Nigerian culture’s treatment of single women, misogyny, community childcare, sexual harassment, and treatment of sexual harassment victims, among others. Ijeoma Grace Agu makes a powerful performance as the no-nonsense Rose and really breathes life into the character. In my opinion, it is perfect casting.
Regardless of these pluses, Swallow still feels a little like every other Nollywood film put out now. There are instances of poor acting (if there is such a thing as over-acting, Nollywood actors are guilty of it). I would hate to be the one to point this out, but readers of the novel would mention that the film lacked nuance that the novel provided. Honestly, I couldn’t define Rose and Tolani’s friendship at some point.
I wasn’t sure if they were best friends or just people that met at work and became closer and I think this crucial element could have been portrayed better. Some scenes also seem to drag and almost feel unnecessary. It is possible that this could have been an intentional means of making it feel natural, which works to an extent anyway because we get to understand why swallowing would seem like the only way out. I think this is really the essence of this film, to feel the despair that would drive one to jeopardize their life to claw their way out of poverty.
I’d give it a 7 out of 10 because a lot of Nollywood films end up being underwhelming and I was able to focus on this till the end, which is saying a lot because I have a short attention span.
