Nine Movie Review
A Supernatural Thriller That Promised Horror and Delivered Confusion
Thank you for being here!
This is the first official movie review I am doing and I feel good writing this. Welcome to Oniroyin and thank you for nudging me to do this!
TL;DR
Nine had potential, but it crumbled under weak storytelling, underdeveloped characters, and confusing direction. The horror and tension was not felt, the main plotlines were underwhelming, and the action sequences lacked the intended impact. The film focused too much on an unconvincing villain, sidelining what should have been its strongest elements. A promising idea that, unfortunately, missed the mark.
Rating: 3/10
Let’s talk about Nine…
Cast: Chris Attoh, Rosemary Zimu, Juliet Ibrahim, Damien Smith, Chasity Saunders, Fred Amugi, Adjetey Anang, Sika Osei, Kate Henshaw, and Gideon Boakye
Let us get into the first order of business. Nine is not exactly Nollywood/Nigerian, it is adjacent. It is a Ghanaian supernatural thriller that explores a dark horror much like modernizing “juju” movies from our childhood.
The movie synopsis on Amazon Prime reads:
“The brutal murders of young women in Ghana set a forensic scientist and an American detective on a trail that reveals a sinister serial plot. To thwart a dark supernatural force seeking immortality, they must enlist the help of nine female assassins.”
And I will tell you why it is important I quote this directly from Amazon’s blurb.
Storyline
The story started off promising and I acknowledge the attempt at making these traditional horror movies modernized and action-filled. I even shouted “Blood of Jesus” at the beginning of the movie (I was home alone and watching African “Juju” movies is no joke please). But I soon became comfortable, for something that was supposed to be filled with tension, jump scares, and sitting on the edge of my seat. That was my first sign that disaster was calling. The were plots in the story had holes:
Why and how was it allowed for a student to walk into class and seduce their teacher? Is this an actual a thing?
The supposed fighter ladies led by Vivian played by (Rosemary Zimu) who should have been central to the plot were overshadowed by overly focusing on the villain (Professor Russell played by Chris Attoh), and even that storyline fell flat.
They failed to explain the motivation behind his story and the impact of this said power was unexplored
The main scenes were underwhelming and there was no standout moment
I was unclear as to what the fighter ladies were training for, and what they stood for
The forensic scientist that came was muted in the movie, he did not solve a single case and he had zero on-screen presence.
I was a little confused that the killings had been happening in Ghana for 3 years yet the scale of the crimes felt oddly vague and scattered as they mentioned that the crimes happened across Africa and he had recently moved to Ghana
So, after all this, how does the Amazon Prime synopsis hold up? Let’s just say it does a better job selling the story than the film does delivering it.
Direction
The direction was subpar. The camera angles did not do justice to the storytelling. Chris Attoh directed the film, and I suspect that balancing both directing and acting contributed to the flawed execution. His performance felt strained, and the film itself reflected that struggle. The lighting was poor, and the picture quality lacked sharpness.
Costume
The costumes were decent, there was nothing particularly special or perfectly suited to key moments, but I did appreciate the minimalistic approach.