Written by Vanessa Kanu and produced by Ekene Mekwunye with Daniel Oriahi directing, the movie blends a relationship that goes awry, mental health and the real versus imaginary world into a fascinating cocktail that film buffs will start enjoying in cinemas from September 21.
Ghanaian actor, Chris Attoh, plays an asylum inmate named Richard who narrates what brought him to the mental institution. The hitherto upwardly mobile young man has an imaginary friend, Sylvia (Zainab Balogun) with whom he is very close. They have been friends since childhood but the problem is that Sylvia exists only in Richard’s imaginary/dream world; she is not flesh and blood.
Over time, Richard falls in love with Gbemi ( Ini Dima Okogie) he meets at a restaurant in the real world. He then refuses to collect the hibiscus flower Sylvia always gives him in his dreams, the previous link between them. The imaginary lover is hurt but she bides her time.
Richard goes ahead to marry Gbemi, who incidentally, also loves hibiscus flowers. She always has a vase of the flower at home and things go swimmingly for the couple. But dark clouds emerge when a proposal for a big contract wouldn’t cohere. The troubled young man reaches out to Sylvia for help by placing one of the hibiscus flowers under his pillow before sleeping. She promptly appears to him in his dream and gives him a solution to the problem. Unlike before, the imaginary girl doesn’t give him any hibiscus flower this time around. When he asks, she tells him he knows how to reach her.
Unknown to Richard however, there’s a price to pay for the assistance in the story of love, lust, betrayal and deadly obsession which unfolds in 104 gripping minutes.
Shot on locations in Lagos and Abeokuta, writer Kanu told journalists during an interaction after the screening that the film was partly her life experience and part fiction. She said: “Sylvia came about as a result of recurrent dreams I have been having which sees a dominant character feature in my dream every time. So, I thought about the possibility of it becoming a reality and that is what I tried to do with the script. It has a bit of fantasy, supernatural forces at play, romance and above all, a compelling storyline which will keep you glued to your seat.”
Speaking on the film’s budget, producer, Ekene Mekwunye, disclosed that it “cost about N50m to shoot and took a span of three years. This was because we wanted to churn out a world-class production. It’s high time we began to produce films not for production sake but for value and with a great technical output. We are confident that Sylvia ticks the boxes,” he said.
A unique blend of psychological, supernatural thriller and romance, Sylvia is boosted by a befitting score produced by Michael ‘Truth’ Ogunlade. Apart from Attoh, Balogun and Okojie, other stars in the movie include Udoka Oyeka, Lolo 1, Ijeoma Grace Agu, Lord Frank and Bolaji Ogunmola, among others.
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