Classic Reel: 'Daybreak'

Cast: Olu Jacobs, Omotola Jalade Ekeinde,  Rachel Oniga, Emeka Ike, Ejike Aseigbu and Sandra Achums. 

Year of release: 1997

Director: Chico Ejiro

Plot: A young woman's attempt at revenge on her older lover leads to terrible consequences. 

Side  note: this week's classic reel selection is in loving memory of veteran  actress, Rachael Oniga, who passed away on the 30th of July, 2021.

In the  two part drama, Jalade's  character  Ella- short for Emmanuella- is the young mistress of a  wealthy and much older man, played magnificently by veteran actor, Olu Jacobs, whose classic acting training background came into play as always.  Ella, who has been struggling to keep her head above water long before she even met him, has no other choice but to rely on him, while he is deeply infactuated and possessive of his 'little pet', as he affectionately called her. Eww. 

His motto was :  never losing anything to anyone, hence his dark side swiftly emerges when Ella wishes to make a change, i.e marrying someone else. Olu Jacobs played the villian well, moving from charming to nasty in a hearbeat, reminiscent of a mafia don. Ruthless, he made sure Ella paid for her bombshell by taking away everything he gave her and causing her to lose a dear one, plus having her new guy (Tunde Oni in a cameo appearance) beaten into a pulp. He's a smart, ruthless one, knowing full well Ella would have no other choice but come back to him. Which she does but with a hidden agenda,  then things become really complicated. 

Enter Chief's son, Tekena Daniels Jr. (Emeka Ike)  falls in love with Ella at first sight while she's on her NYSC service, at his father's company. He's so into her that he even follows her home to book a date with her. 

The fact she's heavily dependant on a jealous and ruthless older man (which she informs him about) doesn't seem to deter him while she, aware from  his name whose  son Jr is, keeps dating him, even though she knows she is playing a very dangerous game. Her roommate

Tosin (Sandra Achums) is dismayed by her actions and calls her out on it, but Ella stubbornly keeps to   her double life, with dire consequences as Jr. winds up dead and she is thrown in prison for something she didn't do! 

A few plot holes... 

Why would Tosin be roommates with a kept woman, even if she's her best friend? Meme (Ejike Asiegbu), Chief's main henchman and watch dog was often sent to monitor Ella's movements and when he doesn't find her home, Tosin always bore the brunt of it. 

How come Chief Tekena didn't recognise his son's car packed outside Ella's house? A scene shows him returning back to Ella's house to grab his car keys he left behind while Jr. is in the loo; and notices Jr's car packed opposite but apparently doesn't know it's Jr's car but suspects Ella was stepping out on him again. 

Third, what was Ella planning to achieve going out with Jr? Payback, she said but ended up falling for him for real. Yet HOW exactly was going out with Jr. a means of getting back at Chief, especially since she knew he had the means to get her killed or destroy her by TELLING Jr the truth? A head scratcher. 

Part 2, subheaded 'Judgment Day', Ella tells Tosin, her only  ally, she's pregnant. Tosin's attempt to seek mercy from the embittered Chief only enrages him to seek further revenge on Ella and at the same time cover his tracks. Even Mrs Daniels (Oniga), who suspects her husband put out a contract on his former mistress and had witnessed Jr on a date with Ella, refuses to help the wretched girl, even after she's told she's pregnant and reads a lengthy letter from her. Her great sadness over her only son's death makes her very irrational instead of humane, considering there was a coming  grandchild to think about. 

Part 2 mostly showed Ella struggling to adapt in prison, tentatively befriending a schizophrenic drug  addict Uche, (marvellously played by Binta Ayo Mojagi) and avoiding the unwanted advances of the prison's 'area mother' Kemi (Ada Ameh). 

It also focused on  Tosin's life with her husband Bode, (Francis Onwochei) who served as Ella's lawyer, after they adopt Ella's son, Emmanuel.  Their scenes were tedious but sad. A once loving couple fall apart, with one party refusing to take responsibility or show remorse for making the other party unhappy; even with the presence of a loveable boy like Emmanuel (Ifeanyi Nwaiwu). This causes Tosin to take an action that can either be understood by few or  seen as an ultimate betrayal by many. 

Rachel Oniga, while will always be remembered as a wonderful actress, didn't give her whole in a few  later scenes. One in particular  was a dream sequence where she sees Jr's ghost and gives

unconvincing screams when  he leads a pack of zombie-like creatures and an obviously fake skeleton in a very  badly done  reenactment of Michael Jackson's Thriller music video, which was simply cringey and ridiculous.  

The scene where  Jr's ghost emerges from the pool to torment the man behind his murder was  far better and creeper than Mrs Daniels' dream but also predictatible as she had already cursed whoever was responsible for her son's death. 

Several years jump, with an adult Emmanuel (Francis Duru) visiting an aged Ella in prison, her sentence now  remaining a month. The final confrontation at Chief's house is swift; Tekena Snr. is  so wrapped with guilt over Jr's death, he couldn't look his grandson in the eye while Titi (Oniga doing an odd trembly thing with her lips) is shocked by the presence of the grandson she showed no interest in years back, and Chief takes the coward's way out despite already frail in health, either too filled with guilt or didn't know how to ask for forgiveness with words, hence the story ends. 

'Daybreak', while dragging in some scenes, was an engaging drama and a half forgotten Nollywood classic. Olu Jacobs arguably stole the show by playing a ruthless villain, Omotola giving a better performance than in her previous film by showing more confidence, even to playing Ella as an older woman. 

Late Rachael Oniga was a bit over the top in some scenes and Binta Ayo Mogaji was excellent. Emeka Ike however was more  bland than charismatic in his scenes with Omotola-they had zero chemistry-but was interestingly creepy as the vengeful ghost. Sandra Achums, while a supporting character, did a great job, it's a real pity we hardly see her in current Nollywood films today.

 'Daybreak' should be re-released on DVD or on Netflix. 

Trivia:

The baby who played  Emmanuel as a newborn was Omotola Jalade Ekeinde's first child, Princess Ekeinde.  

'Daybreak' is Omotola Jalade Ekeinde's third film and the first film where she's credited by her married name. 

Francis Duru, who played Ella's son Emmanuel as an adult is actually 9 years older than Omotola Jalade Ekeinde. 

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