office romance turns scorching in nigerian movie COLD AS ICE

Rating out of 10

I give COLD AS ICE 🧊🧊🧊🧊🧊🧊🧊🧊

I loved this movie. There were so many meme-worthy moments, that I lost count. Someone ought to take this film and create GIFs and short video memes because the facial expressions and the dialogue were too memorable. 

Also, you could tell that Devil Wears Prada was an inspiration for this movie.

Two things I did have a gripe about, it would have been nice to see the scenes where Blessing and Helen hung out after work and how their friendship came to be. Too bad we didn’t. Second was us not being shown the school scenes. That was a missed opportunity to skyrocket this movie to legendary status.

Cast

Eso Dike as Ayodeji
Inem King as Helen
Niyi Aluko as Blessing 
Cynthia Clarke as Sophia
Emma Robert as Michelle
Great Val Edochie as Stanley

Crew

Great Val Edochie – Director
Susan Ogutuga – Producer
Okpala Chidiogo Virginia – Writer

Full Story

Helen is rushing to work when she gets hit by an SUV. The driver, Bassey, is worried, but his boss, Ayodeji, hands him an envelope to give to Helen.

Bassey delivers the envelope, but Helen refuses to take it. She only wants an apology, which Ayodeji doesn’t offer. He leaves the scene.

At work, Ayodeji’s personal assistant, Blessing (or Ms. Okafor, as he prefers), briefs him on the latest developments and mentions the applicants for the second assistant role. He asks her how many showed up and says he only wants to be involved in the final part of the interview process. He doesn’t want

“you idiots making a bad choice.”

Blessing conducts the first round of interviews. When it’s time for the final round, she takes the remaining candidates to Ayodeji’s office. He sees Helen and calls her dirty because her shirt is stained with mud. She explains what happened, but he doesn’t care. Blessing tries to convince him to hire Helen as she’s the most qualified, but Ayodeji’s mind is made up. Blessing drops Helen’s file on his desk anyway as she walks her out.

Ayodeji opens the file, mutters “Helen” with a smile, and asks that they call her back. The other two candidates are sent away – they didn’t get the job.

Helen resumes work, and Blessing is thrilled to have a new colleague. She’s like an Emily excited to work with Andrea, while Ayodeji is Miranda Priestly (a reference to Devil Wears Prada).

Helen meets up with her friends, Sophia and Michelle, to update them about her new job. However, they couldn’t care less, especially Michelle, who couldn’t hide her disinterest. She was more invested in Sophia’s update. Sophia claims her boyfriend proposed with a grand gesture in front of everyone, but the truth is he simply bought her a ring, decorated the room with rose petals, and then… didn’t show up. When she called to ask where he was, he replied with a cold,

“The ring is in the box. It’s a one-cut diamond like you requested. Put it on.”

After hearing the voice on the phone and the way the engagement went, I just knew it was Ayodeji.

Every day, Blessing doesn’t have to do too much work because Ayodeji prefers to call Helen instead. Blessing even notes that Helen is the only one he calls by her first name, and Blessing is quite happy because she doesn’t have to deal with Ayodeji and his attitude up close.

After working for a few days, Ayodeji reveals to Helen that they used to be schoolmates back in Junior Secondary. He was the fat kid with glasses, while she was the pimple-faced girl. They were both bullied in school and now he claims he turned out fine, while she is still meek.

One day, they forgot to call a client, and Ayodeji was upset. It was a task Blessing was supposed to do, but to save herself, she lied and said it was Helen. Helen takes the fall for it.

When they return to their desks, Helen is upset, and Blessing apologizes. Blessing was scared she would lose her job, and knowing that Ayodeji is fond of Helen, he wouldn’t fire her. The ladies reconcile and smile.

Another day, Ayodeji tells Helen to get ready to go for a meeting with an old classmate and bully of theirs, Stanley. Stanley had reached out to Ayodeji’s company to help save his from bankruptcy. Ayodeji didn’t save Stanley’s company. He convinced the shareholders to sell it to him, and then he calls Helen to the conference room to mock Stanley.

Stanley, being your typical evil person, didn’t remember the person he hurt until Ayodeji reminded him, and he wasn’t happy.

On their ride back to the office, Helen asks him why he took revenge, and Ayodeji goes into a rant, mocking Helen. He tells her that there are two types of people in this world – those who push and those who get pushed around. He calls her a pushover, someone who doesn’t love or respect herself.

Helen is furious and asks to get out of the vehicle. Ayodeji agrees. Bassey questions his decision, but Ayodeji commands him to drive on.

Helen hangs out with Michelle and Sophia at a bar. She’s drunk out of her mind. All three women are waiting for Sophia’s man to show up, but he’s running late. Michelle suggests that they go upstairs to hang out with a friend, and while Sophia calls on Helen to join them, Michelle is like “no way” (consider replacing this with a less vulgar option).

Helen allows them to leave without her.

Ayodeji comes to the bar to meet his “fiancée” and her friends but finds only Helen. He asks her why she’s there drinking alone, and she rants about herself, what he said, and so many other things. She wonders if she’s truly unlovable. Ayodeji listens to her rant, and then she starts talking about meeting her prince charming and kissing him.

Ayodeji then tries to kiss her, but his girlfriend calls. Helen is horrified that he wanted to kiss her despite having a girlfriend. She throws up on him, and he takes her home.

The next day, when Ayodeji calls for Helen, she begs Blessing to go in her place, which annoys Ayodeji. He threatens to fire Blessing if she ever answers on Helen’s behalf again. Helen ends up going in, and Ayodeji asks her about her hangover and if she’s okay. She says she’s fine, and he lets her go. When Helen returns to her desk, Blessing is upset. To appease her, Helen buys Blessing dinner.

Helen finally confronts her friends about treating her like a third wheel. They are silent, so she goes to the bathroom. While she’s gone, the two women make disparaging remarks about her, calling her ugly and clingy. Helen overhears them and excuses herself.

Ayodeji finally gets to meet his fiancée’s friend, Michelle. Michelle can’t stop fawning over how rich, handsome, and romantic Ayodeji is. However, a call from Helen cuts their meeting short. He simply tells them it’s “work stuff.”

Helen is at the bar again, drowning her sorrows. She’s sad that her friendship with the gruesome twosome has ended and wishes she hadn’t confronted them. Ayodeji tells her it’s better to be alone than to have friends who despise you. In the same bar, Stanley is seated alone, drinking and glaring at them.

Ayodeji takes Helen home again.

The next day, he asks how she’s doing, and she says she’s fine. She asks if he called her in to prepare any files, but he says no, he only wanted to know how she’s doing. That evening, while on her way back home, she overhears a thug talking to Stanley on the phone, saying he’s already at her house. She runs away and calls Ayodeji while she’s running. He’s on a date with Sophia, which seemed to be ending badly. Once he hears Helen is in distress, he jumps up from his seat, making Sophia suspicious.

Helen faints and wakes up in the hospital with Ayodeji by her side. He takes her home and offers her leave, but she refuses, stating that she wasn’t injured and would resume work the next day. Which she does, and Ayodeji becomes a helicopter boyfriend of sorts, making sure she takes her medication at the right time, even in his office.

On the last day of her medication, he gives her mints to get rid of the bitter taste of the drugs, and something leads to another, and they kiss.

While they are kissing, Sophia walks in and basically calls Helen too ugly for her to be the woman Ayodeji is cheating on her with. But Helen changes her tone. She goes from “I’m sorry” to “bitch, your man wants me,” and Blessing drags Sophia out of Ayodeji’s office.

After the encounter, Helen asks that they go back to being official. She no longer wants preferential treatment.

So Blessing becomes the PA he bothers the most, and just one day she comes to work late because she stayed with Helen, drinking and trash-talking Ayodeji.

Ayodeji fires Blessing. Helen goes to intercede for her, but Ayodeji starts ranting, talking down on Helen like he did before. This time, however, she’s ready. She calls him damaged and exposes his flaws harshly. He has an panic attack and then fires her.

Both women, fired on the same day, just laugh off their sorrows and plan to job hunt.

The next day, Ayodeji comes to work to find empty desks. He calls Blessing to resume her position, and an excited Blessing calls Helen. But Helen doesn’t get a call.

Ayodeji suffers another panic attack.

Oh, and lest I forget, he breaks up with Sophia. They have the funniest exchange ever, but you have to watch it to understand the full humor.

Ayodeji tries to hire a new second PA, but Blessing sabotages it by only picking unattractive candidates. Homegirl just wants her friend back..

In the end, Ayodeji goes to Helen’s apartment. He describes the painful experience he had back in school, how Stanley stole his watch and locked him in a horrible bathroom. He asks her to come back to work, but she can’t – she already has a new job. Then, Ayodeji tells Helen he loves her. He’s loved her since they were kids. They kiss, and there’s a bit at the end where they have a picnic, and he brings out something from her past that meant a lot to him.

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