While Inside Life thoroughly exposes societal evils, the production’s flaws are significant and could have been avoided.
By Fejiro Sagua
Renowned music video director, Clarence Peters, known for his high-end music videos, TV commercials, and documentaries, declared in an interview that he intended to “bring to people’s faces” stories that would simply elicit fleeting sympathy when shown on the news or posted on blogs and paint a vivid picture of the harsh realities of everyday people Nigeria, and this idea birthed his latest production, Inside Life.
Released on Netflix on October 11, 2024, Inside Life embodies the realities of the common Nigerian. The series stars Gabriel Afolayan, Magdalene “Meg” Otanwa, Zack Orji, Jide Kosoko, Abiola Kazeem a.k.a Jigan Babaoja, Scarlet Gomez, Taye Arimoro, Nnamdi Agbo, Uzomaka Onuoha, Rachel Emem Isaac, Chisom Egu, Miracle Justin, Gift Ndah, and Tonia Chukwurah.
With these actors, he created characters with intriguing stories and crafted one of the goriest, most frightening, and most unsettling Nollywood series you may ever watch. Each episode tells a story that could trigger you in the moment, keep you awake at night, or leave you pensive for days.
The series, set in South-Western Nigeria, zooms in on the horrific realities faced by victims of societal ills such as police brutality and abuse of power, child abuse, sexual abuse, human trafficking, and ritual killings. Characters like Ade (Jigan Babaoja), Itohan (Tonia Chukwurah), Chiamaka (Chisom Egu), Gift (Gift Ndah) are shown to be telling their stories from prison.
Others such as Titi (Uzoamaka Onuoha), Mimi (Miracle Justin), Aunty Rachel (Florence Okechukwu), Adaobi (Chioma “Chigul” Omeruah), Pastor Chima (Zack Orji), Alhaja Simbiat (Meg Otanwa), and Chief (Jide Kosoko) have major parts to play in the main characters’ stories.
Inside Life deserves accolades in several aspects. The cinematography excellently evokes a sense of dread and terror that is sustained from the first episode to the last. The actors also deliver powerful performances. Yoruba Nollywood’s beloved “Jigan”, typically recognised for his comedic roles, deserves a standing ovation for his remarkable performance in this production. The child actors, Khaira Bashir and Ella Okorie, show promise and perform excellently as young Chiamaka and Juliana, respectively.
Another commendable aspect of Inside Life is its portrayal of how societal ills perpetuate further societal ills, often beginning within the family unit. This is exemplified in episode two, where Itohan’s mother remains silent while her stepfather repeatedly abuses her.
When Itohan confronts her, her mother recalls how her father’s family evicted them after he abandoned them, and how the stepfather saved them from homelessness and paid for her and her younger sister’s education.
She then tells her daughter point blank that the abuse is the price she has to pay for her new life. “No be woman you be?” she says, “All of us don pass through this same thing too.” This statement alone shows how our society forces women to embrace rape culture and simultaneously enable the barbaric men who do these things.
Through Chiamaka’s story, we see how the child of an affair between a pastor and a congregation member could be taken into her own father’s home as a maid, suffer great maltreatment from the pastor’s wife, and grow up to kill her father.
It makes one wonder, “Could this be the stories of the housemaids who kill their bosses?” And all of it began with an unfaithful husband sexually exploiting his congregation – two major issues in one.
And what is a horror film without a foundational myth? As the story unfolds, we are gradually introduced to the red ring, worn by the “Queen” of the human trafficking ring.
In the final episode, we discover that this ring grants its wearer power over humanity and can only be worn by someone whose pain and suffering have given them the potential to unleash great evil upon the earth. The longer the wearer possesses the ring, the more evil they become. It is clear that the ring symbolises power and authority in the story.
Furthermore, the native Nigerian languages used in Inside Life are excellently spoken; Yoruba, Igbo, and Bini. The attention to detail on the speakers’ intonation is evident and soothing. It is nice to see majority and minority tribes almost evenly represented, despite the series being set in the Yoruba-speaking part of the country.
To begin the analysis of Inside Life’s flaws, one must appeal to Nollywood filmmakers to stop prioritising the portrayal of reality at the expense of audiences’ mental health. The rape scenes are far more graphic than necessary.
They not only trigger and traumatise victims and the entire female audience but also cater to the fantasies of the vile and detestable segment of the male audience who derive sick pleasure from rape and other forms of sexual assault. This content gives them something to identify with.
If Inside Life is meant to be a change agent, can it truly change the hearts of such perpetrators by showing them the very acts that sexually gratify them?
The excuse of an attempt to paint a realistic picture does not fly in this context, seeing that there’s a tendency to cause much more harm than the supposed intended good. This is quickly becoming a notorious trend, as it is also in the 2023 limited series, Shanty Town.
Lastly, Inside Life suffers from the inclusion of unnecessary elements that leave loose ends. In episode four, we witness Titi (Uzoamaka Onuoha) come back to life after having her throat slit by one of the ritual killers. It is implied that she possesses spiritual powers, yet this is the last we see of the character, despite her display being the most significant portrayal of spiritual powers in the series.
Did the production team really expect the audience to ignore it? If nothing was going to be built on it, then it probably should not have been added. There is also some confusion with the female prisoners’ bit.
In episode one, we see Angela in the pharmacy, free as a bird, but in episode two, which is eight months before according to the production, we see her in prison. It is not shown how she gets out, which should have been an important detail, given that no prisoner in that series was officially freed.
It is also surprising why and how the girls selected for the Chief’s ritual, including Gift and Chiamaka, are arrested and thrown in a police cell in the last episode. Is it a depiction of a fallen justice system or a plot hole? The people need answers.
Throwing it back to episode two, we see the police dragging Gift out of the cell, accusing her of killing three “hefty” men. While that is happening, we hear her questioning Chiamaka about what she had told the police, but Chiamaka in this scene is portrayed by a different actor than in the rest of the series.
So, is this another girl named Chiamaka, to whom we were never introduced, or is it simply a production flaw? In the final episode, we then see Marshall, another prisoner from episode two, sitting across from the senior police officer as she slides the red ring over to him and asks how he obtained it.
Truly, how did he get the ring? The last time we saw it, a new queen was wearing it, so how did Marshall come to possess it?
While Inside Life thoroughly exposes societal evils, the production’s flaws are significant and could have been avoided.
Rating: 2.5/5.
Inside Life Is currently streaming on Netflix.
Fejiro Sagua is a writer and film enthusiast who loves diving into the world of movies. She’s always on the lookout for great stories and new films to watch. When she’s not busy writing or watching movies, you can find her reading books, at the gym, creating content, or having interesting conversations with friends, family, or even strangers.