The Widow’s Son, a movie by Willie Workman Oga tells in very colourful and compelling way the travails of widows in the Nigerian nay African society. Though the widowhood saga is no longer news, the movie brings it alive in ways that are memorable in addition to raising issues that were before now unspoken or hushed up yet are everyday realities for the bereaved in a society in too much of a hurry to be sensitive.
The Widow’s Son is a story of strife and the sheer grit and determination of the main character Agaba who rises from grass to grace the stumbling blocks notwithstanding.
The one hour, thirty minutes movie produced by Entertainment Konsult, opens with the chaotic scene where the widow and her children, a boy (Tito Nwagbata, lead player) and a girl (Favour Workman) are thrown out of the house by her deceased’s relatives. Her attempts to lay claims to what rightly belongs to her and her children by normal sentiment, are thwarted as her ‘smart’ brother-in-law (played by Victory Emuejekarohwo) takes all since, after all, he is the next-of-kin in her husband’s will.
The next few years see the widow and her children going through harrowing experiences, clawing at survival straws. A great flash-back technique is explored several times to reflect the life of sheer luxury they lost due to the death of their breadwinner. But all they have now are mere fleeting memories amidst the squalor they have been relegated to—the mother as a petty trader, son as a menial jobber and daughter a hawker of drinks.
They are also seen grappling with the unspoken vagaries that life throws at the vulnerable. While Agaba the son fights to fend off cult boys in his pained attempt at university education, the daughter had to fight off a rapist in her attempt at earning a living via hawking cold drinks in a racy neighborhood. As if that is not enough, the widow escapes a seduction attempt by none other than her ‘wicked’ brother-in-law who deprived them of their inheritance.
But a glimmer of light shows when Agaba’s singing career receives a boost and he is signed on a successful musical career.
A line of romance, intrigue and the triumph of love is also woven into the entire plot to further brighten the storyline.
A unique twist to this movie by Oga, a musician, filmmaker, founder of the Advocacy for Widows Empowerment Foundation (ADWEF), and ace producer, is that it has about 80% of the cast as real life widows and some of the child actors as real life orphans. It also features some of Nollywood’s best including Toyin Alausa and Emuejekarohwo.
The colour, memorable dialogues and captivating scenes, makes ‘The Widow’s Son’ a must-watch.
