B for Boy

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Audience Member An upper middle class Nigerian woman is pregnant with her second child. Her first child is a girl, and her husband's family is stressing how important it is for this child to be a boy. She's pushing 40, so the chances of her having a third child is pretty remote. Her husband's mother is pushing him to take on a second younger wife. Circumstances conspire to leave her childless and unable to reveal to her husband what has happened. She follows an increasingly tortuous path towards acquiring a male baby at whatever cost. The circumstances set up in this film seem pretty far-fetched, but that's made up for by the way it shows the sort of bad decisions that get made when pressure is applied on people. The husband seems like a good man, and he stands up for his wife when his family attacks her, but not even he seems willing to completely stand up to the insane pressure to deliver an heir to carry on his family name. The film's about a half hour too long, but it's an engrossing and revealing portrait of what oppressive cultural traditions can do to individuals. Rated 4/5 Stars •  Rated 4 out of 5 stars 02/01/23 Full Review Audience Member Set in Nigeria, this is the story a pregnant woman approaching her fortieth birthday. Because this will probably be her last chance at having a baby, she desperately needs it to be a boy due to cultural and religious pressures that might break up her whole family. B for Boy offers insight into another culture and into an issue that is perhaps not discussed much about on this side of the world. It also represents the best side of Nollywood, which aims to bring the dilemmas of the modern African population to the screen. Anadu's film is a very powerful and brave examination of Nigerian culture and the discrimination that is suffered by women as a result of a remaining retrograde cultural mentality. This intimate domestic drama really lets the desperation and frustration of the situation sink in with the viewer through an unhurried and yet intense pace. The performances by the cast enhance the film's emotional depth of this film, which despite its occasional ruggedness and imperfection, is quite remarkable and certainly accessible to a broader international audience. Rated 4/5 Stars •  Rated 4 out of 5 stars 01/24/23 Full Review Audience Member another excellent ensemble cast of first time actors who gave such an authentic performance. The key was in the cinematography - lots of close up shots inside - inside her house, her kitchen, her office, etc to constantly portray the emotional claustrophobia and anxiety the lead character was feeling from the pressure of her in laws and culture to produce a male heir. Rated 4.5/5 Stars •  Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars 01/21/23 Full Review Read all reviews

B for Boy

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