Here's the Catch

Nollywood Review Log: The movie I watched tonight read like a Biblical parable, though set in the modern day--and to this Western oyibo audience member--it just came off as tragic and unsettling. A wealthy plantation owner wants to reclaim his heritage as king of his village, despite resistance from the village council. His daughter tells him to visit church and pray for God’s help. When he does, the pastor has him make a pact with God: if God grants his wish, the plantation owner will give anything God asks of him in return. Soon after, the man becomes king. But that night, God sends him a vision: he must give his daughter to God and send her to a nunnery. He’s understandably upset, but he knows he must oblige; he breaks the news to his daughter, who’s none too pleased with him. After shedding tears over a husband and children she’ll never have, she gets into the pastor’s waiting car and is carted off to join the nuns.

The lesson here is that we must follow God’s will, no matter what sacrifices he may ask of us. Yet I couldn’t help thinking how the story would have played out the exact same way had the plantation owner not made a pact with God, but with the Devil: in a Faustian deal, the Devil gives him everything he ever wanted, but then demands his daughter as payment. In this version it’s all well and good, since the daughter will dedicate her life to the Lord’s work--but I didn't see the part where God checked in with her to see if she was okay with the idea.