Black Mail

An online porn addict becomes the target for pantomime Russian cyber crims in this twisty, London-set thriller.

Celebrated screen hardman Ray Chinda (OC Ukeje) is having a really bad time of it: the spice has been drained from his relationship; he’s addicted to internet porn; he’s losing the connection to his kids; and a gang of Russian cyberhackers have sent him a little blackmail note asking for cash, otherwise they private drop wank footage to his Facebook page – if that’s even possible! The shame of it all is really bringing him down.

The fightback is slow and steady, and it helps that the Russians have various side hustles in sex trafficking and raping colleagues that begin to disrupt their well-oiled operation. Chinda soon sees a path to taking ownership of his self-abusing ways, parlaying some of his film fight choreography into real-life crime fighting, and discover that the internet isn’t just a hate-filled cesspool of humiliation and misery.

Veteran Nollywood director Obi Emelonye throws everything in the pot and more for this zippily-paced urban thriller which makes up in moxie what it lacks in finesse. His MO as a writer and director is that, if one idea appears to be running out of steam, then quick, let’s chuck another one up there, as this 90 minute dash ends up covering a surprisingly vast amount of ground. Perhaps a little too much, when it comes to a third act twist in which the central conflict is suddenly placed in an even wider and darker context.

The performances across the board are good enough to keep things puttering along, even if there are a few clunky minor supporting roles (mainly police officers) where it does feel like actors have been given one take to read some stock lines off a whiteboard that sits just off camera. And the editing and cinematography have enough of a slick sheen to pass the film off as a ritzier package than it perhaps is.

Politically, the film is very happy to stigmatise porn addiction and push an aggressively conservative pro-family message, treating Chinda’s chronic anxiety and pangs of self-hatred as little more than treatable personal weaknesses that can be fixed by a softly-spoken psychiatrist, or just suppressed for the remainder of his days. Yet there is something quite refreshing and truthful about a film in which a man is targeted by cyber criminals and is completely confused and naive about how he should thwart their efforts.

It’s compulsively watchable hokum, sometimes earnest, sometimes daft, but always trying to reach beyond its grasp. And there’s no reason why Emelonye wouldn’t make the transition from Nollywood to Hollywood in the next decade or so.

Published 25 Aug 2022