Anchor Baby

This movie is an amazing independent film. I watched it in UK Odeon cinemas when I was there on vacation in September. Acting was great and the story is amazing with a mind blowing twist at the end. This type of movie opens your eyes to whats going on in our society and the immigration system. The movie started off with showing the two main actors in the movie. One of them is Sam Sarpong. I've seen him in several films in the states but never in a role like this ever. He even had a different accent from his normal way of speaking. The person who stole the whole show is the lead actress Omoni Oboli. She is not a big named actor. I believe she is a Nigerian based actor in Nollywood. She did justice to the role and was very believable. Terry Oliver who played Susan Backley was also exceptional in her role. This is a movie you will have to watch twice to figure out how the writer/director Lonzo Nzekwe pulled off such a great story. I'm looking forward to seeing more work from this promising filmmaker. I' have to admit I'm not a big fan of indie movies, but I'm glad I gave it a chance and watched it. It's a recommended "must watch" for everyone.

Pregnant Joyce Unanga played by Omoni Oboli and her husband Paul Unaga played by Sam Sarpong are illegal immigrants in the United States. Their visas have expired and their time in the USA is up. They were offered voluntary deportation 3 months previously but refused to take it Joyce has 4 months until she gives birth and has agreed with her husband that they will lay under the radar hiding from immigration until the baby is born. This anchor baby will act as a device for the family to gain legal foothold into the United States;. Joyce isn't so keen on the idea but her husband Paul is desperate for their child to be born in the United States and have an American passport so that he/she can be afforded the same opportunities as American born kids.

After a raid at Paul's workplace, where Paul drops his phone after running from immigration officials immigration and are hot on their tails and one morning while Joyce is out on her daily walk they pounce and grab Paul. Joyce has no choice but to evacuate the apartment if she too doesn't want to be caught. She is left alone, homeless and pregnant looking for a place to stay when she comes across a Good Samaritan by the name Susan played by Teri Oliver in a doctor's office. Susan comes in to save the day and offers her her basement to live in until the baby is born. It sounds too good to be true. Is it?

This is a movie that I thoroughly enjoyed and I would definitely recommend. It was well shot and evenly paced. The drama, tension and suspense was good but could have been picked up a notch, nevertheless I loved the storyline. It was one that raised very real and important issues about illegal immigration and showed us the gritty reality of life as an illegal immigrant and the misfortune that can fall upon you when you have no rights. Anchor baby won the Best film Harlem Intl film festival, Award of Merit L.A Cinema festival of Hollywood. It made the Official selection Africa Intl film festival and official selection Fans of film festival and all with good reason. Grab ya copy

I just watched this film on an overseas flight and was shocked by many obvious errors. First, the woman is extremely large at 4 months pregnant (the size a woman is just before labor) and never changes size the entire film. Secondly, the film is supposed to be based in Chicago and it doesn't even attempt to look like that city at all. The nice interior of the illegal immigrant's home is also not realistic at all for the United States - it looks like a suburban home, yet is supposed to be an urban housing block? Lastly, and most importantly, the values portrayed as heroic are an unjust abuse of the US immigration system. The concept of "anchor baby" has already been eradicated in the UK and other first world countries because it is an unfair way for someone to forcefully gain citizenship while others are patiently waiting in line. Overall, I'm disappointed that film festivals gave this film such good ratings. Whatever your political views, this is a poor film with blatant errors.

I didn't quite expect where the story was going, it was a nice surprise, but some of the acting just wasn't very good. Something to pass the time during lockdown.

This movie annoyed me so much. The premise was great and interesting, but the plot just crawled on and on, to no end, and the acting was annoying especially from certain characters/scenes. Susan and John (Susan's lawyer friend) were particularly odd in their acting, like they don't know how "real" people behave.

Except Joyce Unanga, the main character. She did pretty good.

It's disappointing because I would have loved to get a movie on this topic (undocumented immigrants shown in a sympathetic light) where I could be really invested in the characters.

The ending was unexpected for me, so that was good, but it didn't feel necessary, like the twist didn't really do anything for the movie overall. If it had, I would have bumped it up to a 5/10 but no.

Also the whole movie felt like it was made in the early 2000s, from the camera quality, to the awkward cuts between some scenes, to the weird dialogue.