2022 is turning out to be a year of many strides for filmmaker Obi Emelonye. From getting a slot for his biopic, Badamasi, on Amazon Prime Video to confirming July 22 as the cinema release date for his new crime thriller, Money Miss Road, a lot is definitely going on for the ace director.
To cap it all, Emelonye recently announced that his action-thriller, Black Mail, will be premiering in over 100 cinemas across the United Kingdom. The excited director shared the announcement via his Instagram handle.
Official Synopsis –
In a poignant allegory for the present times, a Russian criminal attempts to exploit his compromised victim in a game of cyber cat and mouse that takes everyone to the edge of destruction.
Ray Chinda (OC Ukeje), a world-famous movie star at the top of his career receives a mystery email threatening to release a compromising sex tape and demanding a huge ransom be paid in 24 hours or…!
Angry and scared in equal measure, Chinda knows it’s a hoax, but can’t ignore it and risk being shamed and disgraced in the eyes of his wife (Julia Holden) and his family, then getting canceled by his adoring global fans.
With paying up no longer an option and warned-off involving the cops, he has nowhere left to turn. So he decides to play the situation as if it was from one of his movies… and foolishly goes after the gang behind the scam.
Operating from London behind layers of VPN encryptions, Mighty Igor (Nicolay Shulik) and his enslaved assistants surf the tip of a ruthless Russian criminal dark web iceberg; lurking to sink innocent unsuspecting victims.
With the clock ticking, Chinda blunders his way through a game of cyber cat and mouse that ultimately forces him to put everything he loves on the line. With his back against the wall, Chinda must close ranks with the most unlikely of allies and confront Mighty Igor; at a very dangerous time- just as his criminal empire is beginning to unravel from the inside.
Black Mail stars OC Ukeje, Alessandro Babalola, Julia Holden, Nicolay Shulik and many others. The film has toured many festivals where it scooped numerous awards, including Best Film at the 2021 Africa Movie Academy Awards and Best Film at the 2021 British Urban Film Festival (BUFF).
Black Mail is executive produced by Olatunbosun Amao, Linda Ikenga and Chiamaka Obi-Emelonye. It is directed and produced by Obi Emelonye.
Black Mail will hit UK cinemas on August 26, 2022. Check out the trailer below.
