Joy **** (2018, Anwulika Alphonsus, Angela Ekeleme, Mariam Sanusi) – Movie Review

You just know that if a film is call Joy, there will be no darned joy anywhere. And writer-director Sudabeh Mortezai’s 2018 Joy is certainly joyless. It is a tale of woe.

Anwulika Alphonsus stars as Joy, an illegal Nigerian immigrant living in Austria and earning money as a sex worker to pay off her Madame (Angela Ekeleme) to earn her freedom from a prostitution ring, as well as her visa, and freedom from her debt to the juju man back home. It is all about the money. You have it, don’t have it, want it, use it to use people, use it to try to help people. Whatever, wherever you are, it is all about the money.

Joy befriends much younger new Nigerian recruit Precious (Mariam Sanusi), who is causing Madame trouble. When Joy has almost paid Madame off, she is asked to supervise Precious. Joy herself is tough, a realist and a survivor. But is life worth surviving? Is it worth paying the price? It sure does not look like it.

This none-too-happy tale of exploitation, manipulation and domination is very well handled by writer-director Sudabeh Mortezai, who gets all the detail feeling right and tells the harsh story in a calm, non-exploitative but quietly moving and compelling sort of way. It is plain film-making but highly effective none the less. The three main actresses urgently command interest and attention. Their performances and the film have a sharp documentary-style realism.

It won the Hearst Film Award at the Venice Film Festival 2018 and is a nominee in the Official Competition for Best Film at the London Film Festival 2018.

Joy won the Best Film Award in Official Competition for Sudabeh Mortezai at the London Film Festival 2018.

© Derek Winnert 2018 Movie Review

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