‘Coming from Insanity’: Movie or Radio Drama? – A Review
The second Coming from Insanity popped up on my Netflix home page, I was quick to click because of my respect for the Afolayan’s. The 2019 crime drama featured actors that I regard as my people; which was what made it hurt so much when I started rolling my eyes at the movie.
Let’s just get into it…
Plot
Coming from Insanity follows a young man named Kossi (Gabriel Afolayan) who was illegally transplanted from his home country, Togo, and finds himself in the role of a houseboy to a rich Lagos family.
From being a domestic help for the Martins, an upper-class young family of four, Kossi becomes a big-time cash counterfeiter. He makes his own money by literally making his own money; as he mastered creating flawless counterfeit 100 dollars notes which he sells to black-market money exchanger.
But yawa starts to gas when the police get on his trail and kickstart huge life-and-death problems for Kossi and his friends.
Cast
Coming from Insanity stars Gabriel Afolayan as the lead character; alongside Udoka Oyeka, Wale Ojo, Sharon Ooja, and Damilola Adegbite. Dakore Akande, Bolanle Ninalowo, Sani Musa Danja, Tina Mba, Adeolu Adefarasin, Sambasa Nzeribe, Temidayo Akinboro, Wole Ojo, and Odunlade Adekola play minor roles in the movie.
WARNING: SPOILERS AHEAD
Review
Going into this movie, the originality of the story was quite striking. A young man with a difficult past going into a life of crime is the kind of story that is archetypical of a third world country like Nigeria.
But when you take a closer look at it, Kossi’s motivations and excessive balling don’t seem like a valid enough reason to root for him. Kossi “the Bear” ties a lot of his self-worth to how much money he has and till the end of the movie, he never learns otherwise.
However, by telling the story in his voice, the film convinces us to root for him anyway.
The near-misses of Kossi being found out keeps the audience on edge. Yet, we can’t help but notice how cliche his narrow escapes are.
Another thing I noted about this movie is the use of punchy language that sometimes fail to land. You can tell that the writer is proud of those lines, but the characters don’t own them enough for them to hit the right spot.
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An example of this was when Oyin (Damilola Adegbite) called Kossi a “bad-ass” for sleeping with Sonia (Sharon Ooja). The brief exchange was so cringeworthy that I groaned out loud.
Speaking of characters, Coming from Insanity simply refused to let the characters shine. And how did they do this? By telling us everything instead of showing us. With the level at which Kossi was narrating everything, was there any need for actors at all?
The basic rule of thumb for good movies is to show, not tell.
Unfortunately, Coming from Insanity spoon-fed us the whole plot like the writer was reading to us in first-person. In fact, there was so much narration that the movie could pass for a radio drama. This made me sad because Coming from Insanity could have been so much more.
Kossi’s pursuit of Sonia was also very shallow. It wasn’t like they shared anything special at all. Kossi just wanted what his former oga Femi had and used money as his only angle in.
They could have played up the intelligence he displayed at the beginning of the movie. They could have portrayed him as a kind and more sensitive partner to Sonia because of his close friendship and understanding with Oyin.
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But throughout the movie, Sonia is objectified by everyone; like the shiny thing that belongs to the highest bidder. Oyin’s cringeworthy statement further drives that fact home. And till the end of the money, there is no turn-around; no revelation of a deeper intimacy between Kossi and Sonia. It’s just an indirect transaction.
Don’t even get me started on Kossi’s accent. The bad sound editing of this movie and the Togolese accent that we can neither confirm nor deny just made for an unpleasant listening experience; which is just sad considering that there is SO MUCH NARRATION in Coming from Insanity.
Again with the accent, Kossi had stayed in Nigeria long enough for the accent to reduce drastically; especially since he basically grew up with ajebutter children. But no. The immigrant agenda must continue.
I would have talked about how a redeeming factor for Kossi would have been him deciding to use all the money he made illegally to help children that were going through what he went through.
But this is apparently a true life story and for the true life Kossi, the thought of other people didn’t cross his mind; just tacky overpriced shirts and his oga‘s ex-girlfriend.
Money is the source of everything and money is worth risking everything. That is all this movie says. It’s a yahoo boy/counterfeiter cautionary tale with not enough caution or emotional moments.
It still makes for a good watch if you don’t take it as seriously as I do.
