Soft Love is a rom-com that tries to tug at the heartstrings with a Nigeria-South Africa love story but falls short on several fronts. Directed by Holmes Awa, this film follows the story of Zandi Jele, a South African relationship specialist who, after being jilted at the altar, loses faith in love until she meets Edward, a Nigerian photographer with baggage of his own.
Soft Love was not a bad film if you don’t mind predictable storylines, thin character development, and forced chemistry between the leads.
The setting and cinematography were really good. In fact, I think the setting and visuals are among the film’s strongest elements, showcasing the vibrancy of South African landscapes, and for a moment, I almost wanted to forgive them for the [xxx] they were showing me because everything looked really pretty.
Acting and casting did not work in my opinion. Also, is DSF getting better as an actress, or are the people they have been casting her with just not showing up? Out of all of them, hers was the only character I cared for a little, and I also liked Zandi’s friend TK. Efa Iwara was just there, and even my fave Genovevah Umeh was just there—and I did not appreciate that at all!
What were the issues?
Soft Love was very predictable. Don’t get me wrong, predictability is often part and parcel of the rom-com genre, and it’s usually forgivable if the film nails the charm. But Soft Love recycled every rom-com cliche in the book without any payoff. Their meet-cute wasn’t too bad, and I was going to manage it until Zandi started laughing when they were in that cell… I was like, What’s funny now? I have seen that kind of scene so many times, but in this film, it felt like Edward missed the joke. It felt like someone shouted “Oya laugh” in the background and they started cackling—it was not authentic at all, and it did nothing to make that scene wholesome.
The biggest issue I had with this film was the main idea of the story as well as Edward’s character. Very, very unappealing. Ladies and gentlemen, let’s not lie o, apart from being a fine boy, was Edward an okay somebody? Edward was a mummy’s boy living off his mother’s money in SA. A thief who stole from his company, an immature husband who decided to leave his wife because she refused to be irresponsible with him. There was no plausible reason why he was working as a photographer in some company paying him peanuts in SA, when he could have been running a thriving photography business in Nigeria. Baba was living like a bachelor in SA, he refused to work on their marriage, refused to join the family business, and his wife had to step up (although that one started stealing 🤦🏽♀️). He refused to cleanly sort out his divorce before he started seeing another woman and conveniently forgot to mention to her that he was married.
When we address the dynamics of his relationship with Zandi, he was not that intentional with her; she kept on reaching out to him, she even had to have the “what are we doing” conversation. When Zandi found out he was married, he tried to manipulate her by signing his divorce papers and dropping them at her house (as the divorce lawyer that she is, yes?). As for that Zandi, she still carried herself back to Lagos to beg and fight for the yeye relationship. At what point did Edward work for that relationship?
To add insult to injury, there was no chemistry between them! Was that even a consideration, or did they just randomly pick a South African actress and a Nigerian actor?
I respect Nemesia Studio for their ability to explore human emotions in a simple and compelling manner, like we saw in Breath of Life and With Difficulty Comes Ease, but Nemesia Studio did not do a great one with this romantic comedy. Soft Love is neither funny nor particularly romantic; it’s not warm, it’s not wholesome. It’s a charmless fairy tale, and anyone who would just open their eyes will see that it is giving “God forbid” and not “God when.”
Have you seen it? Thoughts?
My Rating: 3.5/10
Have you seen the movie, please share your thoughts with us in the comments below
Read the review of Move Like A Boss.
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