WHISPERS IN THE DARK // MOVIE REVIEW

Mental health issues are as real as real can be. However, with a lack of sensitisation, many people are oblivious to the effect certain conditions can cause or the extent to which some disorders can affect an individual’s day to day life.

This movie titled “Whispers in the Dark” hits differently. I got in my feelings at the end of this film! Only a little.

My only regrets about this movie are that the duration of two hours twenty-four minutes should have been at least an hour or so shorter, and I wished some of the actors had acted better. E.g, the two mothers in the story.

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PLOT

This film follows the story of Becca or Becky, known as Rebecca in school, played by Inemesit Essien who suffers from Social Anxiety Disorder.

Her condition was so acute that she had to be on regular medication as well as go on scheduled therapy sessions from time to time.

Becca had no friends whatsoever except for her dog, Willow, and stuffed animal whom she named “the other Steve” She named him after the boy in her class called Steve.

Becca would then develop an attachment for Steve. She found a way to get his number and would text him asking him for his friendship whilst concealing her true identity.

Feeling really invisible in her class, this was pretty easy to pull off.

Initially, Steve was uninterested as he found it weird that someone he doesn’t know would be seeking his friendship. However, he would later give in when he became downtrodden himself, faced with a difficult emotional stress dealing with his own personal demons - his parents incessant quarrels and plans to divorce.

But, there’s a BUT…

Steve wants to meet with Becky face to face, but Becky’s social anxiety would get the better of her as she chickens out until Steve gives an ultimatum!

This is where you should go watch out what conditions Steve gave Becky and if Becky was able to conquer her fears and nental health issues.

MY TAKE

As earlier stated, this film is an emotional one. The two lead characters in this film, Emmanuel Nse and Inemesit Essien, interpreted their roles really well. Inemesit Essien in particular, that girl embodied her role, you’d forget she’s acting.

Although the two mothers’ acting did not do it for me as their scenes were not giving what it should give, their poor interpretation of roles, the lady who played Rebecca’s mum actually did better in the last part of the movie if I’m being honest.

I often wonder how mothers with special needs children cope with everything. For real, I do! My heart goes out to them. They're amazing.

This storyline is different, unique, and educative as it fosters awareness on mental health issues as well as its impact on the people around. However, I find the texting back and forth was way too much. One could easily get bored. So many scenes could have been removed as they added little to nothing to the plot.

The volume, too, did not help matters as the most crucial part had me increasing my TV volume to the highest, yet I still couldn’t get the words clearly. Maybe it’s just my hearing, though.

There’s always room for improvement in production and postproduction. Hence, we’re hoping for better performance, execution, and output in subsequent projects. It was an 'okay' film, anyway.

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