I did not sit down to watch Shirley Frimpong Manso’s much talked about movie-Devil in the Detail, hoping that it will be great—because we all agree that there wasn’t even that minuscule probability that the movie was going to be short of her consistent outstanding delivery.
If anything at all, I knew it was going to be an improvement on the previous production-POTOMANTO since this has become conventional of the multiple-award winning Director. When you think she has hit the glass ceiling, she surprises you and come flying through. Therefore, my total mindset was to find those things that will make me not like the movie and to be frank, the fact that I watched the movie twice is an indication that I failed.
The reason why I sat down hoping to spot those things which will shake my conviction in the Shirley Frimpong Manso and Ken Attoh’s combined excellence is, that as a writer/critic it is easier to point out weakness than strengths—so I was looking for the easiest way out.
But I got served…
Storyline
Thinking about the many over recycled romantic thriller and drama storylines, ‘Devil in the Detail’ points to the fact that, there is no justification whatsoever for the many closely related and refurnished stories African movies dwell on—as a result of writers inability to be creative with ideas.
The writers-Ken Attoh and Shirley Frimpong must have put a lot of thinking into the story, depicting a close but reverse connection between how women and men deal with relationships—especially when these relationships are extra marital.
Instead of sticking to the traditional African movie theme of splashing the marginal error of judgement on mostly the men, the writers successfully cast a stone at the man-Adjetey Anang and the woman-Nse Ikpe Etim to find out their hidden weakness.