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.

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

Another masterpiece from Play Networks. We waited and they delivered.

I must give props to David Ezekiel and Adaobi who were absolutely amazing to watch. The dynamics and interactions of all six protagonists had me interested from the start; Jide Kene and Levi, Obinna and Effyze, David and Adaobi… they all came correct.

The stories weren’t linear but they were simple enough to follow without getting distracted.

Well done to Moses Nwang and Charles Opaleke for giving us such a beautiful story.

Few Notes: We’re getting there but our sfx, props and makeup could be a lot better. The flayed skin and the bullet wounds were not all too convincing but the story was good so it was easy to overlook. Also, easier things like the knots on the ropes could be done a lot better; they were so loose one could easily slip out of it. Also, for Pere’s scene, he was not immobilized so he could flex his arm and untie his mouth and hands. The rope on his wrists was also loose enough to slip out of.

Secondly, the acting of some of the diversity cast wasn’t all that great.

All in all, amazing story and great acting.