Contest : Citation Movie Review

Movie title: Citation
Running time: 115 mins
Director: Kunle Afolayan
Starring: Temi Otedola, Jimmy Jean-Louis, Ini Edo, Gabriel Afolayan and Seun Kuti.
Year of Release: 2020

After the announcement of the contest of the review of CITATION movie. I downloaded and watched the movie. And no doubt, it's an important movie that encourages us to speak up.

The director (Kunle Afolayan) aims to bring more light on sexual harassment by men who use their position of power to oppress their subordinates, and how institutions tend to protect these men. The movie talk of an environment where rape due to the attitudes towards gender and sexuality is normalize.

Citation focuses on the life and community of Moremi (played by first-time actress Temi Otedola), bringing forth the many complexities regarding her claims. The movie display two part; the event that leads to the rape attempt and the trials between Moremi and the professor.

The movie capture everything in our communities today. It display how people with the most power are the ones with the strongest voice. The young woman shows inner strength and bravery to stand against what happened to her. The outline of the plot of the drama shows, despite the attempt to bring forth justice, how easy it is for victim to feel Shame.

The approach chosen by the director is lighter which embrace a happy environment with a dark undertone. The reason is to put in realism. Sure do happen in a general and safe environment and with someone they trust. The movie aim to help audience grasp the society and the real falsehood of rape culture that repeatedly return back to family, friends, and peers.

The director is trying to make a point that the audience need to stand up and act. Rape culture is formed by the silence of others and not by the victim. To loudly speak when we encounter an event that makes us feel uncomfortable.

Performance Worth Watching: Temi Otedola’s. sincerely, she didn't show any sign of been a newbie. She effortlessly melts into her role.

Memorable Dialogue: Moremi shares her aspirations: “I vowed from that day to spend the rest of my life trying to make a difference to the world at large.”

In conclusion, citation is too long. It's heart is in the right place, but there are some needless scene. For instance, when Koyejo gives Moremi a flirtatious self-defense lesson leads to a pointless, protracted display of unconvincing karate during his competition, which leads to a pivotal scene where the self-defense lesson comes in handy. To me it's pointless. It's so amateurish, but well-meaning for what it's worth.

And I really want to give thanks to @movie-view,
@henryglowz
@bright-obias