Far From Home is a Nollywood series released on Netflix on Friday, December 16, 2022. The young adult movie is a 5-episode series written by Dami Elebe and produced by Chinaza Onuzo, alongside others. It is about a young adult, Ishaya Bello, who has big dreams of being an artist and is determined to make this dream a reality. However, his financial background stands as a major obstacle to this. While pursuing his dream selfishly, he lands himself in a big mess creating problems for his family and friends.
This young adult series has a storyline that envelops teen drama, betrayal and crime. It follows the popular trend of a struggling boy ending up in one of the biggest schools in the country by scholarship and catches the attention of the great-grand and only daughter of the Founders of the academy. Quite cliché, isn’t it? Regardless, the production team and actors did a good job portraying this. For me, the casting was great. From Ishaya to Carmen to Frank to Atlas to Zina to Reggie(my favourite character), and even the annoying character whose name wasn’t mentioned throughout the movie-they all bodied their roles. I also love that they were mostly new faces. However, familiar faces like Bimbo Akintola, Carolyn King, Richard Mofe Damijo, Adesua Wellington, and Funke Akindele played their roles to perfection. Undeniably, the acting was quite excellent.
I particularly loved the entire production. The lighting, cinematography and sound were of good quality, giving viewers a great feel. I also loved that only Nigerian songs were used throughout the movie. They somehow made each song blend with the scenes, which was lovely.
However, this series had me raising my brows while watching some scenes. At first, I was confused trying to figure out whether Wilmer academy was a secondary school. I later figured it was a “pre-tertiary” school, like the Advanced levels (A-levels). The producers also tried to sprinkle the “American High School” vibe into it, which I found pretty absurd but funny. Asides from this, I found the end of the series chaotic. They started so well, and I had high hopes after watching the first episode, only for them to be dashed at the end. For several reasons, I was lost and did not understand why some things happened. Like Carmen ending up in a rehabilitation centre? Or Ishaya going scot-free after everything he did? It just did not make sense.
In conclusion, I’ll give the series a 6 out of 10. It was good but could have been better. It’s an interesting watch, and I would recommend it for the festive season if you’re looking for something chill and not intense. All in all, I believe Nollywood has improved highly and has the potential to go places.
Will it have season 2?