Blood Vessel is an emotional rollercoaster

Moses Inwang’s Blood Vessel (2023) critically explores the plight of many Nigerian youth amidst a nation whose environment has been hugely battered & plundered by forces beyond their control. Nembe, a remote community in the Niger Delta region of the country, is a victim of oil exploration by Axis Oil, culminating in its sudden & quick environmental degradation, with land & water pollution, & death of people & fishes as the [new] norm.Show more

In their bid to nip such unpalatable development in the bud, some of the youth decide to take the laws into their hands and (albeit accidentally) kill a soldier in the process. There is bedlam, pandemonium, crisis & wanton destruction in the community as the military men comb through it to search for the culprit(s) & this constitutes the very foundation on which the film’s plot takes a quantum leap, making Oyin & Abbey, two consummate lovebirds, & four other youth to cross path. Confounded by the ill developments in Nembe, especially the soldier’s frantic search for Abbey whom has been named by Oyin’s father as the main culprit, these six youth resolve to flee the country via a ship as stowaways.

If is from this ship or vessel that the film derives its apt name, Blood Vessel. A whole lot of corruption, deception, destruction & man’s inhumanity to man happen in this vessel and at the end, only two of these youth survive. The cinematography is scintillating & the main actors, who are mostly fresh faces supported by the already known ones, bring brilliant and dazzling performances to the screen. Amongst the new faces, David Ezekiel & Adaobi Dibor particularly stand out in their reflection of the Romeo-and-Juliet-kind-of-love onscreen. I look forward to future performances from these two. Jidekene Achufusi, Bimbo Manuel, Francis Duru & Ebele Okao, all old faces, are as well fantastic. Good plotting & suspense & good artistic direction.

Unlike Black November (2012) & Oloibiri (2015) which had previously beamed light on oil exploration in the Niger Delta region of Nigeria, Blood Vessel brings a different perspective to the issue by underpinning it with a sizzling love tale as well as the japa rave. And just when I thought I had seen it all in 2023 with The Black Book, here comes this well-knit narrative. I am really excited about Nollywood’s giant strides, particularly in contemporary times.

I rate the film 7/10.

Try to watch this movie, best movie of the year, it’s also emotional