Reflective Encounters

“Simple staging and a languid camera hides the emotional complexity at play in Rehearsal, Michael Omonua’s scathing critique of religious corruption. As a sinister pastor, Brutus Richard towers over his subordinates in the church. Blankly, they practice a Sunday service that culminates in a fake miracle healing. Set and shot at the National Theatre in Lagos, Omonua uses direct address to dismantle the viewer’s sympathies. Sometimes, a scene will break down to reveal that it’s part of the pastor’s elaborate rehearsal. The setting’s blatant theatrical allusions draw a line between the spectacle of church and that of the theatre.

Reality exists behind the frame, outside the space of the film. We are reminded of the flowing of air, by the breeze through curtains that drape the whole set. Bold lighting makes the wood-paneled walls of this church shine, while light fades through like specs of dust. Ruby Akubueze’s face as one of his followers is used perfectly to search for the line between belief, abuse, and complicity. In one terrifying scene between her and the pastor, Omonua drops the otherwise rigid camera to show a frantic suggestion of violence. When, exactly, does the rehearsal stop?”

— Ben Flanagan