Deepening Spirit-Spouse Concept through Plot Structure and Characterisation in Daniel Oriahi’s “Sylvia”

Abstract

The spiritual spouse is a long-debated concept often relegated to myth and fables. Although this concept is present in several cultures across the African continent, the Nigerian film industry, also known as Nollywood, has not given it the desired thematic prominence in recent times. This posturing affects the regularity in terms of scholarly engagement with the issues. However, the emergence of Sylvia in 2018 has brought a renewed interest in the spirit-spouse relations. It is against this backdrop that this paper subjects the movie Sylvia to critical examination to ascertain the plot structure and the aesthetics of characterisation as used in the movie to achieve a perfect blend of fiction, myth, and reality in the scenes.  Critical film analysis was used as a method of data gathering, and psychoanalysis was a theoretical framework, respectively. The paper found that aesthetic characterisation enhanced the plot structure, which helped the film achieve a realistic rendition of real and surreal characters, thus blurring the lines between both worlds, and enhancing believability.