When I saw this poster, the first thing that came to my mind was “Nollywood, has come again!"
Nevertheless, I thought to give it a try just out of curiosity and was gonna watch with one corner of my eye, but NO! When I eventually started, I was hooked from the very first scene that I had to use both eyes to watch it. Lol.
It turns out the movie sort of surpassed expectations. No Igbotic accent from IK like we would normally see him in most films where he’s featured in other productions. He owned this and left an impression like “this is my own movie, i’mma give it my all!” And he did just that.
See, if you liked Bimbo Ademoye’s “RUSE” of 2024 and you smiled, chuckled or laughed to your heart’s content, well, they say what is good for the goose is good for the gander, right? So, here’s a 2025 male version with a different side to it!
So here...ABOUT THE FILM
“Patrick or Patricia” as produced by IK Ogbonna (also starring as Patrick/Patricia) is a comedy drama (dramedy) which follows the story of Patrick, who works in a bar sharing shifts with his friend/housemate Wale (Daniel Lloyd).
Patrick is attracted to Cassie (Sonia Barbie Tucker), who frequents the bar with her friends. Patrick doesn’t have the bälls to open up to Cassie as he feels she’s way above his league.
When Lawson (Deza the Great), a regular customer at the bar, sees how much Patrick stares at Cassie, he decides to make him an offer.
What is the offer? Will Patrick accept this? What has the name Patricia got to do in all of these? Well, why not find out for yourself in this film with a runtime of 2 hours?
MY THOUGHTS AND OPINIONS
Starring some fresh new faces like the Sierra Leonean TikTok sensation, model and influencer, Sonia Barbie Tucker, did this movie some good.
Although her acting had some friction or rough edges here and there where it seemed underwhelming in some scenes, I want to believe they’d get better with more roles over time.
Regardless, she’s an absolute stunner, such breathtaking melanin-skin-tone, drop-dead gorgeous, screen diva! Wait! Is that her real hair?
I loved seeing Deza take on some bad boy role here even though he appeared to be somewhat uncomfortable as it seemed not his best act.
He nonetheless did his thing. Charles Okocha would probably have murdered that role better, adding an extra layer to the film. Much respect to Deza still.
IK Ogbonna, like I stated earlier, shined throughout whether as Patrick or Patricia reminding us that there are many sides to him and that this was is own production. He held the knife, and he held yam - he sliced and cooked it to his taste.
I loved the angle the storytelling took using the modern day reality of life where we meet people every now and again in real life - on the street, at the mall, at workplaces or social media who are cross dressers or choose to transition from one gender to another for reasons best known to them (not here to judge what’s right or wrong as that’s not the POV).
Nobody pretended not to know it was a male dressed like a female going by the coarse baritone voice. So, it’s not like “couldn’t they tell it was a male?” This was well thought out in that regard.
My issue, however, is how Cassie couldn’t tell straight up or act like she knows Patrick/Patricia from somewhere since she frequents the bar where Patrick worked. That didn’t add up, in my opinion.
Oh, I loved Cassie’s African print inspired outfits, hairdo & interior decor with the modern-day minimalistic design, feel, and look. If I have such a house, I’mma stay indoors forever. The bar setting was equally a clever choice.
While the movie is engaging, interesting, and entertaining, it is predictable with a duration that almost threatens to ruin things, giving some repeated dialogues, especially between Cassie and her dad. The storyline and plot are commendable, to be honest.
I appreciate the fact that there were no prolonged scenes in this movie. Loved how this highlights the issues around trauma-induced phobias in people, as seen in Cassie’s background story.
There are other sprinkles of flaws here and there in the movie, but I can look past them to recommend this hilarious film for laughs.
That's all.
Until next time...BYE!
