Collision Course

Collision Course tells the story of a young musician’s experience with police brutality. Directed by Bolanle Austen-Peters, and starring Daniel Etim-Effiong, Kelechi Udegbe, Chioma Chukwuka, Bam Bam and Ade Laoye, amongst others, the films offers powerful commentary on the systemic issues in Nigeria; it shows how the lives of a police man and a young musician are intertwined, as they both battle with their shared frustration of the Nigerian government.

Opening scenes

In what I would describe as a strong opening scene, a man is being chased down the streets of Lagos by a specialist police unit. They pull him out of his car and into another where he joins a few others. They then take them to a location where they see multiple dead bodies before they proceed to torture them and then extort money from them. Those who have money are taken back to their pickup point and those who don’t are unfortunately killed.

This is our introduction to the main character, Mide Johnson (played by Daniel Etim- Effiong), a musician and lover boy navigating the ups and downs of crazy Lagos state.

Next, we’re introduced to Magnus (Kelechi Udegbe), a young police officer, who is being accosted by his wife (Chioma Chukwuka), for being a poor man. He promises her that in no time, he’s going to join the specialist police unit, TARZ, because “that’s where the money is”.

The captivating scenes of Lagos, paired with radio broadcasts discussing police brutality, alongside Mide’s constant flashbacks of his experience with TARZ, illustrate the lingering effects of his ordeal with the police, creating a powerful backdrop of Mide’s personal journey.

Story

I like how they showed us two different sides of the story, what each party was going through in their personal life before their unfortunate encounter.

Magnus’ wife leaves him, and Mide’s performance at Quilox doesn’t go well so they’re both angry when they eventually meet. This allowed us to sympathize with them both. It was very difficult to choose a side.

I really liked how realistic the film was. It didn’t try to paint the police in a good light, like most Nigerian films do. It was able to tell the story of a current Nigerian struggle without taking away from people’s real life experiences.

Dialogue

The dialogue was interesting! The dialogue in the car between Mide, Hannah and her friend talking about the three levels of the third mainland bridge — The rich, the poor and the aspiring, was quite an interesting take on the country’s dire situation.

Then, the dialogue between Mide and Magnus, sharing each other’s struggles. They were both able to express themselves and it showed that dialogue can really change certain situations. People can’t understand each other’s struggles unless they speak to each other, and share those details. One may look great on paper but their inner struggles are not visible. Magnus assumed that because Mide was a “fine boy” and he drove a “car with AC” and had “fine girls” in his car that he didn’t have any problems in life but that was far from the truth. This he eventually learned before the unfortunate incident.

It was really sad that after they both had bonded, he unfortunately shot his gun at him. The situation makes me question the Nigerian police force. Are these people experienced enough and sane enough to be holding guns? Maybe not!

Cast

Bam Bam did a fantastic job as the pregnant girlfriend. She expressed deep emotions when they were happy, worried, sad and heartbroken. I especially enjoyed her performance in the scenes at the police station after she found out the police check point was unauthorized, and also when she held Mide who was dead in cold blood, and cried bitterly. She really was the right woman for the role and I think this is one of her best performances to date.

I liked Gregory Ojefua in this. He was only in two scenes but he did a great job.

Kelechi Udegbe is a fantastic actor. He was the star of this film for me. He always delivers strong performances in his roles and I really enjoy watching him execute.

Also, why is Norbert Young always the head of police in Nollywood? Can we have someone else please?

Closing scene

I thought the closing scene was great. They showed snippets of the ENDSARS protest at the Ozumba Mbadiwe toll gate, where thousands of Nigerians gathered to protest against police brutality, while they named all the people who had been brutally murdered by the dreaded SARS team across Nigeria. It’s really sad that this is still our reality as Nigerians and we hope that things change very very soon.

The film was a 7/10 for me and is available to watch on Netflix.