‘Elevator Baby’ was Emotive and Heartwarming – Review

Akay Mason’s Elevator Baby is a 2019 Nollywood movie in the “thriller” category, which follows the dramatic encounter between a spoilt brat and a poor woman who goes into labour while they are both trapped in an elevator. So the title is pretty on the nose.

Netflix Naija recently acquired this movie and it has climbed on to the top 10 trending list ever since. Wanna know what the fuss is all about? Let’s get into it.

Plot

Dare (Timini Egbuson) is a rich brash spoilt brat who has to get a job because his mother (Shaffy Bello) is sick of his bad behaviour and is withholding his multiple-comma allowance from him. In the course of job hunting, Dare crosses paths with an underprivileged pregnant woman named Abigail (Toyin Abraham).

At first, they have an altercation, but when the elevator they are in gets stuck, Abigail goes into labour and must depend on Dare to deliver her baby for her. And Dare has to have the courage to look past himself for once and save a life.

The movie is an Anthill and FilmOne production, meaning the writing is minimal and straight to the point. It has an 84-minute run time, making it relatively short.

Cast

Elevator Baby stars Timini Egbuson, Toyin Abraham, Shaffy Bello, Yemi Solade, Broda Shaggi, Sambasa Nzeribe, Ijeoma Aniebo, Blessing Onwukwe, Blessing Obasi, and Emem Ufot.

Accolades

Elevator Baby was a very engaging movie and the short run time probably had something to do with that. There was little room for the dragging and unfunny slapstick humour that characterises many a Nollywood movie today.

It had a good premise and the tension was palpable as the acting and the cinematography inside the elevator aptly expressed the gravity of the situation at hand. Timini did a good job playing a nervous wreck while delivering a baby for the first time in his life.

Shaffy Bello’s acting was flawless. It left nothing to be desired, except perhaps a harder slap for Dare right across the face. Yemi Solade was good as well as many of the characters in this movie.

Dare’s character arc was also great and the entire story was a device for turning him from a selfish brat to a more balanced person, more considerate of others.

The encounter between Abigail and Dare at the end was a bit expository, but it made it clear that their experience in the elevator meant the vindication of her conscience and his release from the grief of his father’s death.

It also made sense that Dare was a shitty person to literally everyone in his life; with his privilege, entitlement, and unprocessed grief.

Also, we rarely get to see the tension between males and their stepfathers. Although the conflict was very dramatised, that might have been what made their newfound relationship all the more heartwarming.

Speaking of heartwarming, Dare’s friend Stevo (Sambasa Nzeribe) selling his pool table to get Dare’s father’s (Stark) staff back, even after their confrontation, was the cutest thing.

Also, although I despise the trend of featuring influencers in movies not for acting ability but for clout sake; Broda Shaggi actually was a good addition to the movie. Apart from the primary nature of the character, he was not annoying at all; despite him eating for two hours!

Dragging time

The first flaw I noticed in this movie was the CGI. The elevator mechanics looked like they were lifted from an animated Pixar movie. The way the elevator shook and dropped was unrealistic, just like the reaction of the characters in the said elevator to the malfunction. For an industry that rakes in billions annually, Nollywood is overdue for good special effects.

The wardrobe for this movie was very boring. Dare did not at any point dress like a rich guy. Even at the club, he looked like a youth corps member coming home from his PPA in the evening. No style, just laid back corporate; which makes no sense for the amount of money he supposedly spends.

Then, Toyin Abraham did not do it for me in this movie. She was supposed to add to the humour element, but the “my name is Abigail” thing was tired and unfunny. She is already a poster child for the comedic razzness movement, so her amping it up was just overkill.

Also, her confession was not convincing. She could have acted more vulnerable seeing as she was in a situation that would likely have cost the life of her about-to-be-born child. It failed to pass the comedy threshold and enter into an emotive place for the audience.

READ ALSO: ‘4th Republic’: Good Story, Tedious Delivery – A Review

It would have been good to have a more rounded scene about how Dare’s father died. The incident in the car where he was passing the drink TO THE DRIVER (how did you expect that to pan out) was vague and shabbily shot.

Dare’s relationship with his father should have been emphasized better; shown, not heard. But this could either be because he was not processing his feelings and was weaponising his father’s death to guilt-trip his mother (which makes him EXTREMELY SHITTY).

For this, I would have liked to see him apologise to his mother. Although everyone he hurts still loves him, it was not so wise to assume that the difficult situation he went through was a panacea for all his relationship problems.

Finally, while this movie was thoroughly enjoyable, I wouldn’t exactly call it memorable. Give it a watch and tell me what you think in the comment section below. And if you’ve already seen it, what did I miss and what don’t you agree with? Comment below.