Thinline: A Nigerian Take on the Thriller Genre

With Thinline, the future of Nigerian crime thrillers is in good hands. The storytelling, production, and casting? Tens across the board.

If Thinline is an indicator of the new age Nigerian movies, then well done, Nollywood!

Uzor Arukwe stars as Pastor Raymond Njoku, an acclaimed man of God. He faces a high-level stalker who resorts to rape and sexual coercion to get his attention.

What follows is the death of said stalker, Annie, with Pastor Raymond and three others as suspects in the murder.

Themes

1. Duality

Attempting to analyze the characters in Thinline is like trying to fit a square peg into a round hole. There were so many human contradictions that made them both emotionally connectable and annoying.

Raymond Njoku is both a victim and an unwise individual. He was raped, extorted, and sexually coerced. Yet, he never considered stopping negotiations with the metaphorical terrorist, being open about his actions, or involving lawyers. His responses transformed the situation from victim to willing participant.

Wunmi is the epitome of ‘may we not marry our enemy.’ Her husband squandered her money more than once, with the last theft committed by Annie. Instead of leaving him, she chose to make his life miserable. Oga couldn’t even watch football in peace because he is an onigbese. Wunmi volunteered extra information to the police to ensure his conviction. Thinking about it, she has a point. Why leave him to enjoy life when she can stress him too? Misery, as they say, loves company.

2. Humour

Amid all the seriousness, there were much-needed moments of humor. For example, when Raymond calls Annie crazy after she demands a physical relationship with him, she replies that she has never been sane and never claimed to be.

Any scene between Iyabo Ojo’s character, Wunmi, and her husband is comical. The most iconic is when the police arrive to take him as a suspect, and she exposes his call claiming credit for Annie’s death when he tries to backtrack. Then she follows him to the station, insulting him from the backseat.

It’s impossible to forget Seyi Baller. That accent? Too funny, please. But why? He could have just spoken normally. It’s not by force to be oyinbo.

Mystery

As expected in a crime thriller, the suspense was top-notch. From the little evidence at the scene to the interviews, the conversations in between, and the arrest, nothing was predictable!

Closing Thoughts

With Thinline, the future of Nigerian crime thrillers is in good hands. The storytelling, production, and casting? Tens across the board.

The only question for the producers is: when will women stop paying for men’s behaviour? Spoiler: Damilola was the murderer.

In the end, her husband, who had secretly kept in touch with someone he was intimate with, forced his wife, the woman who had sacrificed everything for his success, to face his albeit unfortunate dalliance, then had the nerve to ask what had happened to the woman he had married. Please do better. Otherwise, great movie!