Movie Review: Dark October
That tragic day that shocked even a nation already jaded by a beastial culture of jungle justice. That horrific incident that inspired the brilliantly-written and award-winning whodunnit debut novel, Lighseekers, by Femi Kayode. Twelve years after, that day and incident have come full circle in the cinematic translation of the Queen of Bloggers and budding media mogul, Linda Ikeji.
Aptly-named and courting controversy and threat of a law suit over its release, Dark October streams on Netflix, recreating the tragic countdown to, arguably, the most infamous incident of jungle justice in Nigeria starting from a month to the incident in the fictional University community of Aku.
Everybody already knows how it ends and there are variants of the whys and the whos but the truth that is and should be the singular factor is lost in the mix. So, Dark October, as it paints its dark tale in ominously sombre colours, paints the tragic quartet in soft redeeming colours and tars the Aku community in ogre shades.
The thing that most captures your attention about the actors who played the ill-fated quartet(aside the striking resemblance with the real-life victims) is how easily and convincingly they portrayed and embodied the Gen-Z-ish quirks and traits that came up with the ill-advised but innocent shakedown plan to recover a debt owed that snowballed into a tragedy beyond their contemplation.
It's the naivety of their dismissal of any possibility of their plan going awry that heightens the sense of foreboding that envelopes you as the day and minute countdown flash across the screen.
The thin line between being man and beast was viscerally captured in the scenes of the baying mob chanting "kill them! Kill them!" as they beat the quartet to a pulp before setting them ablaze to the strains of a haunting soundtrack that sends shivers down to the core of your being as you imagine the sheer horror the real-life victims must have felt realising their youthful lives and dreams had come to such tragic end.
The best part of Dark October was the worst part of the true story that inspired it. 7/10
