Hot Tears

Nollywood Ghanaian Movie Review

Hot Tears ~ 2010
Story/ Screenplay – David Owusu/ John Izedonmi
Director – John Izedonmi
Producers – Dozie Omechi/ Chinelo Omechi

Starring:
Ecow Smith Asante – Nill
Akua Atta – Praman Mama
Clement A Bonney – Praman Uncle
Francesca Grey – Praman
Salma Mumin – Phil
Edmond Quarshie – Joe
Dominic Demordzi – Skido
Redone Ardday – Richard
Mavis Donkor – Pat

Themes:
Rape
Revenge
Peer Pressure

My Rating – 16%

Praman played by new actress Francesca Grey has returned from abroad to start studying at a university in Ghana where her mother lives with her uncle. She lives in an isolated hostel away from her friends, preferring the serenity as opposed to being around a lot of people. Trouble starts when Nill, played by Ecow Smith Asante takes a liking to her and she rejects him. Refusing to take no for an answer he is determined that he have Praman by any means necessary, and if that means by force then so be it.

*************SPOILERS*************

The beginning of the movie is very slow. I started watching one day and just had to turn it off. I came back to it when I had absolutely nothing else to watch and managed to endure the entire movie, and trust me when I use the word ENDURE. It is most appropriate.

The movie was mostly nonsensical and badly done. How are you going to rape a chick and then go and boast to your friends that you slept with her like it wasn’t by force. What is there to really boast about? I found it strange that Praman was walking on the beach wearing a bra and knickers as opposed to a bikini. I mean where do you see that, let alone in Ghana? What happened? Did the budget not allow for a bikini? I mean here in the UK you can even buy one from Primark for 3 quid.
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After the initial rape and then following gangbang we see Praman crawling back to campus naked. Seemed like a sorry excuse to show nudity. I mean where did her bra go? There is no way she would have crawled all the way back to campus in that state without being stopped or at least someone offering her some type of cover, or to take her to her mother’s house, or the police.

When Praman crawls back into her lodgings the rapists are waiting there for her, ready for another session, and they all take part despite the fact that she has blood dripping down her legs and smeared around her mouth. Even the little one who initially refused to participate is now more than willing. When did he decide that he wanted to join the rapists? How did he change his mind so quickly? Where was the transitioning period? His thought process is never shown or explained.

They tell her,

Henceforth you are our sex machine

These guys look like a bunch of loser misfits. They are hardly cult guys with big connections so how on earth would they think they would get away with it, to the extent that they think them raping her is going to be an ongoing thing?

Nill goes to university with Praman and he has already been seen by her mother and friends at her house harassing her. Does he not think if the consequences of the rape being reported? I guess not. It is not like a date rape scenario where she may not want to report it because she is dating the guy and feels like no one will believe her and it is not like stranger rape where she does not know his details and whereabouts.
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More Nonsense
After the rape Praman’s mother and uncle are speaking abour the situation. The uncle tells the mother than Praman will recover in 6 months, to which Praman’s mother replies,

In that 6 months she might have lost her job abroad

Huh? What job? There is no mention of her working abroad, and if she is working abroad then why is she studying in Ghana. How long is she studying for? A week, a month? How does that make sense?

So the rapes are bad enough, but then after the rapes we have the constant flashbacks to the rapes, and then from rape we go to Praman getting supernatural powers from her friend and wreaking her revenge. It was sooooooooo ridiculous and stupid.

Rape
The movie was just disturbing and haphazard, there were too many rapes and to the detriment of the story. It was more like a horror film. Why after Praman got raped the first time on the beach does she crawl on her hands and knees and go to where the guys are located. There is one of her and a crew of them. Is she mad?

Peer Pressure
I assume the little one takes part in the rapes to fit in with his peers as they are always mocking him and calling him, “virgin.” He perhaps thinks that he will gain respect by partaking in the gang’s activities but in fact he loses their respect as it is obvious he has no firm convictions so it is easy for them to target him to kill Praman. They now believe that he will do anything given the right pressure.

Revenge
I think that the worst part of the movie was when Praman goes to take her revenge and this is because she went to approach all the guys in a seductive manner and NONE of them recognised her. WHAT? Simply because she was wearing Sunglasses (and in one case she was not even wearing the glasses) and a different wig she was unreconisable. BULLSHIT! Her voice did not change, her body did not change. She was exactly the same, and then she pulls of the wig and all of a sudden they recognise her. LAWDY LAWDY LAWD! How the actors continued shooting this crap is beyond me. Gotta eat or don’t gotta eat. I would have felt SHAME!
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I would not recommend this movie. It seemed like it was just a showcase to flaunt this new actress Francesca Grey’s body. I have never seen her before, but why oh why would you take such a role? Yes she was pretty (A cross between Noirin Kelly from Big Brother and Rukky Sanda) and yes she did have a nice body but ewwww we don’t wanna see it in such a manner with all the nasty close ups of her stomach hair and overflowing bosoms. It was horrible. A sensitive subject like rape handled in such a stupid and careless manner. RUBBISH! BURN AND DASH!