Review- Farming (2019)

    Baby Farming is the practice of accepting custody of an infant or child in exchange for payment in late Victorian Era Britain. Farming is based on the Writer and Director's (Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje) childhood about a young boy who was farmed out in the 1960's by his Nigerian parents to a white British family with hopes of a better future. Damson Idris (Snowfall) plays Enitan, the young Nigerian boy who struggles severely with his identity. I really looked forward to seeing Farming ever since the first trailer was released and it ended up being a really emotional one. According to Akinnuoye-Agbaje, the movie was in development for about 15 years and I can't help but imagine how making and eventually putting out this film would rile up a lot of emotions he must have buried years ago. At just a few weeks old, Enitan's parents played by Akkinnuoye-Agbaje and Genevieve Nnaji responded to an ad in a local newspaper and dropped him off with a white family. At 8 years old, Enitan would be made to steal jewelry from stores by his foster mom Ingrid (Kate Beckinsale) and things eventually got worse when he was suddenly taken back to Nigeria by his parents. He was hit with a massive culture shock which led him to staying mute for 6 months. When he was taken back to London to get 'better education', he knew for a fact that all he wanted was to be white and even went as far as rubbing Talcum powder all over his body. The film takes a deep dive into race relations between blacks and whites in Britain and the trauma that came with struggling with ones identity.  

After years of playing the victim and getting bullied, Enitan ended up worshiping these same people who hated and persecuted him just because of the color his skin. He joined the Tilbury Skins and finally felt like he belonged somewhere even though these people saw him as a pet and a "black bastard'. He was mentally and physically tortured by the skinheads and joined them to carry out attacks on Blacks. Reality eventually dawned on him when he realized that he'll never be treated the same way as these white guys and he'll always be seen as another Black African which led Enitan to finally accept who he was.

    I never had any doubts about Idris' acting skills. He's amazing in Snowfall and he did a stellar job portraying Enitan. His performance and the method with which he conveyed his emotions made me speechless and glued to my seat. Some scenes were too raw and were really hard to watch that I had to look away from the screen sometimes. I genuinely enjoyed very scene with Beckinsale and I wish we got more of her character, Ingrid. This story is one that is very important and I'm sure a lot of people can relate to but I can't help but feel like the execution could have been better. Some scenes that involved the gangs felt a little forced and bleak. Farming fell short especially close to the end where Eni's redemption montage seemed a little rushed.  I felt like more could have gone into showing the audience how Eni was eventually able to get rid of all the terrible thoughts he had about himself and his identity. He was mentally tortured and struggled severely with his identity and he certainly didn't get himself together by simply studying the law and getting a degree. 

Overall, Farming was an interesting watch and a great directorial debut for Akinnuoye-Agbaje. It's very hard telling or watching movies like this especially when they're true stories but stories like Farming need to be told because they're important. It's amazing watching a film told first hand through the person or people who lived through such horrible experiences and were able to persevere. 

Farming hits Nigerian theaters, on Friday October 25th.

Have you seen Farming? When you see it, I'd love to know your thoughts in the comments or head over to my social media on Twitter and on Instagram and drop your comments. 

Thank you for reading.

RATING 7/10
WRITER Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje
DIRECTOR Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje
STARRING Damson Idris, Kate Beckinsale, John Dagleish, Gugu Mbatha-Raw, Genevieve Nnaji, Zephan Amissah
RELEASE DATE October 25th, 2019 (Nigeria)