good nigerian movie: DISGUISE

First Thoughts

This movie was a pleasant surprise. It was different from anything I’ve watched lately and 

The Cast and Crew

Ujams Chukwunonso as Chris
Sarian Martin as Rose
Angel Unigwe as Juliet
Michael Ejoor as Nicholas
Naomi Arinze as Annabel
Lola Nweze as Elizabeth

Written by
Produced by Bridget Imasuen
Directed by David Odumuyiwa

Full Story

Rose is desperately looking for a job. She needs it to make enough money to fund her younger sister, Juliet’s bone marrow transplant surgery. Juliet has sickle cell anemia and has given up on life. She believes that she would die soon and doesn’t see the point of having hopes or dreams or interests.

While Rose is on her way to look for a job, she gets a call from her mother, Elizabeth. She asks Rose for some money to buy drugs for Juliet and Rose says she has no money. Elizabeth then advises Rose to pray and give alms to the poor as it would bring her good luck. 

Rose listens to her mother and gives her last 1000 naira to a beggar, Chris; whom she meets on the street. Later that evening, while she and her friend Annabel are outside having a conversation, Chris walks past them. He isn’t looking poor or tattered. In fact, Chris looks clean like someone who can never be mistaken for a beggar. Rose stops him to ask if he is the beggar she gave money to earlier and he brushes her off, so she runs after him but can’t catch him because he has a car. 

A beggar who owns an SUV. 

After that evening, Rose becomes a thorn in Chris’ flesh. She hunts him down to ask for her money which he gives back to her but then she demands for interest. She wants 5 million naira or she will expose him: he refuses. She even trails him to his house where she finds out that he has a disabled daughter. 

Mounting pressure from her mother, forces Rose to consider prostitution. She matches on a dating app with a guy, Nicholas and he offers to pay her 2 million naira for a night of pleasure. 

Rose dresses up and goes to meet him but when he starts kissing her, she recoils. She tells Nicholas she can’t do it and he yells at her to leave his room. Rose leaves crying and when she gets home she tries to confess to Annabel where she had been but Annabel tells her not to say it. 

Rose returns to stalking Chris and appears at his doorstep a second time. This time, she isn’t antagonising him – she is curious. She wants to know why he begs for a living. However, before he can talk, his daughter chokes on her food and Rose does the Heimlich manoeuvre to save her life. 

Later on, Chris accosts Rose while she is out running to apologise to her for being mean. They talk and a friendship develops. She also quizzes him about his daughter and her mother, how long he has been begging and how much he makes from begging. 

Chris answers all her questions. His daughter was born disabled and his ex-wife walked out on them because of it. He started begging because he lost his job and he has been begging for 6 years professionally. He tried to save up to start a poultry initially but it was too expensive to start and he didn’t have the capital for it. When he finally had the capital, he was no longer interested because begging was very lucrative. On a good day, he makes between twenty to sixty thousand naira per day and on a bad day ten thousand naira.

Rose is shocked by how much he makes and they part ways. Nicholas calls Rose for a meetup where he apologises to her for being rude. He explains that something bad happened to him that day and he just needed something to help him forget – alcohol, a smoke and sex. He didn’t mean to be rude which was why he had to call her back to apologise for his behaviour.

Nicholas also asks that they start afresh – probably date for real this time but Rose turns him down. Nicholas doesn’t relent though, he keeps calling. 

Juliet suffers another crisis and Rose becomes desperate to raise money for her surgery. She goes to Chris and asks that he teach her how to be a successful beggar. 

Yo, this was a funny scene. If you see the way Chris was behaving like one lecturer teaching an important course. He was even asking if she had questions and asked that she try pretending to have a fake injury or something.

After the lessons, Chris drops Rose off at her place. He also tells her that he thinks she is ready to venture out as a professional beggar and he kisses her. Chris apologises immediately but Rose says she is fine with it and also admits to liking him too. They bid each other goodbye and Rose enters her compound. In front of her door is Nicholas, standing and having is a conversation with Annabel. He came bearing gifts. 

Annabel excuses them to have a conversation and during the conversation, she reveals that she likes somebody else. Nicholas accepts defeat and hopes that they can still be friends. Annabel, who was eavesdropping, comes out after Nicholas is gone to ask who the man Rose likes and Rose gives her these eyes

Annabel clocks it. She doesn’t understand why but she accepts it all the same. 

While begging, Rose makes about 100,000 naira daily as she gives herself a fake broken arm. Nicholas finds her begging one day and tries to know why. Rose doesn’t tell him though. She is rude to him but he still stays outside her compound waiting for her or Annabel to pass by. 

Annabel does and she tells him about Juliet. However, she asks that he doesn’t mention it to Rose. Rose receives another call from her mother and Chris finally asks her why she is always sad after speaking to her mother on the phone. Rose explains her sister’s situation to him as well as the surgery. Chris then offers to pay which makes Rose very happy.

She rushes back home to meet her mother to tell her the good news but her mother has some good news of her own. Juliet has had the surgery and is in recovery. Nicholas paid for it but asked that Rose not be told. Also, he did it out of the goodness of his heart; not expecting anything in return. 

In the end, Rose writes up a business plan for Chris to start his fishery and poultry. After some months, they move into a bigger home and they are happy. 

Rating out of 10

I give it 🥺🥺🥺🥺🥺🥺

One thing I liked about this film was how different it was. I wasn’t able to predict anything about this movie. I loved that. Also, well done on the face acting. The characters spoke more with their facial expressions. It gave the movie nuance as not everything needs to be said.