What better way to start the year than with a movie review?&nbsp;

"Breath of Life," a Nigerian film penned and directed by BB Sasore and produced by Eku Edewor, premiered as an Amazon Prime Video original on December 15, 2023.

"Breath of Life" narrates the life of Timi (Demola Adedoyin / Wale Ojo), an intellectually accomplished individual fluent in 16 languages, who attains the distinguished position of the first African clergyman in the Church of England. He marries a lady named Bridget (Eku Edewor), and they give birth to a girl. Tragedy befalls his family at the hands of a local thug named Baby Fire (Chidozie Sambasa Nzeribe), prompting Timi to seek revenge. Timi kills Babyfire without batting an eyelid and decides to take his own life. Despite attempting to end his own life, he survives, undergoing a 35-year period of reclusion due to a shattered faith.&nbsp;

The narrative takes a turn when Elijah (Chimezie Imo), a young man aspiring to establish a church, assumes the role of Timi's house manager, leading to ideological conflicts. The movie struggles to stick together, trying to cover too many topics without smoothness. As Elijah revitalizes the town's church, he encounters a love interest- Anna (Genoveva Umeh). This introduces an additional romantic layer to the intricate storyline.

To start off with, it's amazing to see how Nollywood has evolved beyond the regular&nbsp;myopic&nbsp;themes and delves into other relevant themes that carry weight and importance. The movie takes us on a beautiful journey about knowing our purpose, and believing there is a higher power at work weaving destinies together for good. Timi was living a meaningless life, before Elijah came along. He couldn't die, and he didn't want to live either. He was stuck in the same loop, but Elijah changed that entirely for him. He found a reason to live and just when he found a reason to live- he discovered his purpose was to give Elijah a second chance of living. How ironic, he wasn't allowed to die because his purpose was to give someone else life.&nbsp;

Imagine Timi- a man who tried to kill himself several times because he thought he thought he had no purpose, finding out that he indeed had a sole and core purpose. It just shows us that nothing in life is a coincidence, and everything works together for our own good.

The cinematography for the movie was superb. The casting for the movie was perfect and each character executed their roles effortlessly. The costumiers and makeup artists did a splendid job, as well as the location planners- It's safe to say that everyone involved with the movie one way, or another deserves a pay raise. The distinct era for most parts of the movie was set in the olden days- during the pre-colonial time, and slightly after the pre-colonial time. The movie thoroughly depicted the olden times quite well. The cars, attires, building structures and so much more- they all truly reflected the ancient times in Nigeria in a beautiful manner. The soundtrack didn't lag behind as well. Songs were uniquely handpicked to fit the nature of every scene.&nbsp;

One might argue that Breath of Life is a Christian movie- Well, I say it's how you want to look at it. Yes, Christian teachings were used. Yes, Christian verses were cited. However, the message derived from the movie can be interpreted and useful to just about anyone. One major thing I liked about the movie was the romance story between Elijah and Anna. Nigerians love anything concerning romance, and I can't deny loving it as well (I'm a Nigerian after all). From the very moment they met, to how he&nbsp;got all the patients to stylishly ask her out to the bible study, to how they both fought to save the church, and to seeing them get married- Everything seemed natural and didn't feel forced. It was amazing to see that despite everything Elijah was going through, he was able to love genuinely and to be loved back with the same force.&nbsp;

Though, the movie deserves every accolade it gets. Nevertheless, no plot in a movie can be perfect. I for one didn't like the fact that credence wasn't given to Elijah's background. We weren't told much about him; we were just given a few minor details. Even though he was an orphan and didn't have a stable upbringing- still a little more emphasis could have been placed on his background. How did he become a Christian? Why did he love God so much? All we knew was that he had an undying passion for God, but why was that?

Furthermore, some scenes were unnecessary and unclear. For instance, I didn't quite get the scene where Timi was trying to teach Elijah how to drive a car. It was supposed to be an emotional moment for both of them, but it just came off as cold and lifeless. How do you teach a young boy how to drive a car by shouting at him in different languages? I was even more than shocked when Elijah started to drive the car with ease. All we were shown was Timi teaching him how to change to gear 1 and 2, and then he started raising his voice for him to drive. You mean to tell me that Elijah learnt how to drive just from Timi calling him a fool in different languages?&nbsp;

Overall, Breath of Life is indeed an amazing movie that takes you on an emotional roller coaster ride concerning diverse themes- such as purpose, religion, romance, faith, and so many more. If you're a gospel fanatic, Breath of Life is certainly a must watch for you. And if you aren't, Breath of Life is still a must watch for you!

Breath of Life is an amazing and entertaining movie that takes you on an emotional roller coaster ride concerning diverse themes- such as purpose, religion, romance, faith, and so many more. 

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